What Might Have Been
by MaryAnn1819
Summary: Katniss struggles to survive life in District 12 and begins to reconsider her feelings for her best friend. AU. No games.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: This will be a Katniss/Gale story without the Hunger Games. This first chapter is mostly to set the stage, develop the characters, etc. I'm not sure what, if any role, Peeta will have. So, if you're dying for Peeta stuff this probably isn't the best story for you. The rating may move to M in the future. I have it set at T because there's some implied sex going on, but really, I've heard way worse being said in middle schools, so this should be okay for most readers and I'll let you know if that changes. _  
_Obviously, I don't own the Hunger Games and do not want to profit in any way from this work._

* * *

Katniss is finishing her old bread when the girl approaches the table she's sharing with Madge. She's a merchant girl, with long, golden hair and bright blue eyes. Even Katniss, who hardly pays attention to these things, has heard that Tia Hemlock is one of the prettiest girls at school. At the moment though, she just looks tense to Katniss.

"Hi," she sits down at their table.

Katniss just raises her eyebrows, but Madge says hello back. Tia stares at Katniss for a moment before she says,

"What's with you and Gale?"

"Gale Hawthorne?"

"Of course! Know any other Gales?"

Katniss considers this question for a moment. She and Gale are best friends and hunting buddies. That was "what was with" them. But she isn't sure if she ought to say that. The fact that they hunt and trade at the Hob is something of an open secret, but Katniss still isn't sure she ought to go discussing it with girls she doesn't know.

"We help each other take care of our families," she says at last.

"Right, I know about that, but I mean…I mean besides."

"What else is there besides that?" Katniss asks. She has no idea what Tia's talking about. She looks to Madge for help, but Madge seems to be biting back a smile.

The bell sounds and Katniss is absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to end this conversation. She stands up and leaves the table without a word to Tia. She walks quickly towards her classroom, for once eager to sit down at a desk and hear about coal. She glances behind her and sees that Tia is following her purposefully. Katniss can't fathom why this girl won't just leave her alone.

"Katniss-

"We have to go to class."

Katniss turns quickly into her classroom and sits down at her desk, relieved. But when school lets out for the day, Tia is waiting outside her classroom. Now Katniss is just irritated.

"I have to walk my sister home."

Tia glares at her and says,

"Are you always this rude?"

"Only to people who won't leave me alone."

Katniss brushes past the girl and makes her way to the edge of the schoolyard fence where she knows Prim will be waiting. Tia jerks her arm and pulls Katniss to a stop.

"Gale and I are an item-or at least we will be soon-so you need to back off."

Katniss' jaw drops open. So that's what all this was about? This stupid girl interrupted her lunch, asked her uncomfortable questions, and followed her around the halls because she has some stupid crush on Gale. If Katniss weren't so annoyed, she'd laugh.

But then the second part of her statement sinks in and Katniss doesn't feel like laughing anymore. "Back off?" What the hell was that supposed to mean? Spend less time with Gale? That just wasn't going to happen. They needed eachother. Katniss was not about to let her family's food supply dwindle so this girl could feel more comfortable in her stupid, pointless, romantic relationship. Besides, it wasn't as though it was going to last long anyway. Though they didn't really talk about it, Katniss has gathered that Gale never keeps the same girl around for long.

She doesn't have any interest in explaining any of this to Tia Hemlock. Instead, she glares down at the hand gripping her arm and says,

"Let go of me. I need to walk my sister home."

"You_ need_ to understand what I'm saying-

"Let go of her."

Katniss doesn't need to turn around to know that Gale is standing behind her. His voice has an edge to it that even Katniss hasn't heard very often. Tia drops her arm and Katniss steps to the side of Gale.

"Tia, what the hell are you doing?"

"What the hell am I doing? What about what you're doing? You can't go having two girlfriends, Gale!"

"Two? Last I checked, I didn't have _any _girlfriends."

A crowd starts to gather around them. Part of Katniss wants to leave, but another part of her remains rooted to the spot, curious to see what on earth Gale is doing with this clearly crazy girl.

"What? But we-

"Tia, I'm sorry. I thought we were both on the same page about what was going on. I-

Tia's hand connects with Gale's face in a loud slap. For reasons she can't quite explain, Katniss feels herself moving towards Tia to…well, she doesn't know what. So, it was probably a good thing that Gale has lowered his arm in front of her.

His jaw is clenched and he's shaking his head.

"Alright, I think that's enough," he says.

"Hey! Don't hit my brother!"

When Katniss looks over she sees Vick Hawthorne barreling towards them with Rory trailing him. Gale shuts his eyes for a moment and then glares at Tia.

"Now look what you've started."

Turning towards Vick, he says,

"Hey little man, time to head home."

"Gale!" Tia looks on the verge of tears.

"I've had enough. This is done."

Katniss recognizes the note of finality in his voice, but Tia is trying to apologize. Gale ignores her, puts an arm around Vick and Rory, and says,

"We're going home. Now."

With the show clearly over, the crowd disperses and Katniss finds Prim linking her arm in her own.

"That didn't seem good," Prim says quietly.

"It wasn't."

"What happened?"

"That girl got upset with me because she likes Gale and thinks that I'm taking him from her. But Gale never liked her in the first place, and when he kind of told her that, she got mad at him."

"Oh." Prim purses her lips and looks down.

"Don't worry about it, Little Duck. It's over," Katniss says, giving Prim's arm a squeeze. "Now tell me about your day at school."

* * *

When Katniss arrives at their rock the next morning, Gale is holding a baker's roll at her like a peace offering.

"I'm sorry about all that," he says. "I had no idea Tia was going to start bothering you. I should have-I don't know. That whole thing was getting…complicated. I should have broken it off sooner, but I never thought it was going to affect anyone else."

Katniss accepts the roll.

"It's okay. Kind of amusing in retrospect."

She smirks and Gale shakes head.

"Maybe for you. My mother didn't find it too funny."

Katniss can see why Hazelle wouldn't like the idea of her son being part of a public spectacle in the schoolyard, but she doesn't see how it was Gale's fault.

"But you didn't do anything!"

"Want to come by and try telling her that? Apparently, I'm being 'too casual in my relationships' and not 'conducting myself like a gentleman.'"

Katniss snorts.

"You weren't able to convince her that one night stands in the slag heap were gentlemanly?"

Gale winces.

"Well when you put it that way it sounds much worse."

"Is there another way to put it?"

"You're killing me, Catnip. In fact, you sound an awful lot like my mother."

She shrugs, there are far worse people to sound like.

"How'd Hazelle know about all that anyway?"

"Once Rory and Vick told the story she put two and two together. She decided I'm not allowed out of the house, except for hunting and school, until I've had time to consider the consequences of my 'selfish, impulsive behavior.'"

Katniss starts to laugh. She's always appreciated Hazelle's firm discipline, not any mother could have kept Gale under control all those years.

"I'm not even allowed at the Hob. So you're going to have to make our trades for the next week or so. I'm sorry about that by the way. I tried arguing with her and got a few exceptions. If the game is too heavy for you or if you're going to make a trade with Cray, I'm allowed to come with you. But apparently, you then have to come by our house and vouch for me."

"You're on quite a leash."

Gale shrugs.

"I don't mind. Truthfully, I think I've had my fill of the slag heap for awhile."

"I suppose you're running out of girls."

"Hey!" Gale elbows her. "I'm not _that _bad. I swear. How would you know anyway?"

"Girls talk."

"I never thought you were one for gossip."

"Of course not, but they won't shut up. I can't help but overhear some of it."

"So what are they saying about me?"

Katniss blushes. Sometimes the things they say make her downright uncomfortable. They are so explicit that Katniss sometimes can't help but think about Gale in all kinds of ways that she shouldn't. And to have him sitting so close to her now, with their arms brushing-

"Sorry Catnip, I should have known better than to ask you of all people."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that all that stuff makes you completely uncomfortable."

Katniss is too flustered to argue the point. Instead, she just scowls at him.

"It's not an insult. It's kind of endearing actually."

Gale glances down at her with a warm smile. Katniss keeps staring at the ground and blushing.

"Come on, let's start hunting before your face catches on fire."

After the snare line yields two rabbits and they are able to shoot four squirrels, Katniss enlists Gale's help in looking for herbs. Her mother needed St. John's Wart for her depression, but Katniss hadn't been able to find much of it lately.

"I don't understand what's going on," she says when Gale comes back with just a few sprigs. "Has the herb just stopped growing?"

"Don't know. It's still early spring though, more might come."

Katniss hopes so, her mother's stores are running low. Gale studies her.

"She keeps some saved for winter, right?"

Katniss nods.

"But it's running low?"

She nods again.

"Alright, then here's what we'll do. Tomorrow, I'll do the hunting and you just look for that damn herb. I'm sure you'll find more if you have more time to look."

"But you won't be able to catch as much and-

"It's one day, Catnip. It'll be fine."

His logic is sound enough, so she nods her consent. They make their way back through the forest towards the electric fence. When it emits no hum, they climb through the hole and head towards town.

"How about we each keep a rabbit and a squirrel and I take the other two to the baker?" Katniss suggests.

"Sure."

"Well then," she smirks. "I guess I'll be seeing you at home soon to give you your cut."

Gale rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, I won't be going anywhere."

And he's right. When Katniss finishes her trade and arrives back at the Hawthorne house, she can hear the sound of wood being chopped in the back of the house. Hazelle answers the door and smiles warmly at her.

"It's lovely to see you Katniss," she says, waving her in. "One benefit of punishing Gale is that I'll get to see more of you now."

Katniss thinks that Hazelle is probably one of a handful of people in the whole district who actually looks forward to seeing her. It's not as though she has too many friends. Certainly not Tia Hemlock.

"It wasn't all his fault."

"Well, you're a good friend for saying so, but he has a few lessons he needs to learn. Speaking of the boy, I don't know why it's taking him so long to chop that firewood. I should have a good-sized stack in here by now."

"Gale!"

Hazelle marches out towards the yard, but comes back a minute later with Gale in toe. His arms are full of wood and he's scowling. His face softens when he sees Katniss and he offers her a grimace.

"Fancy seeing you here," he says. "Probably because you had to waste your time delivering money I could have collected myself."

"And you owe her quite an apology for that," Hazelle says. "If you could keep your pants on, none of this would be necessary."

"Mom!"

Gale scowls and Katniss can see the beginning of a blush forming on his cheeks. She's too amused at his expense to be as embarrassed as she might have been.

Hazelle props her hand on her hips and says,

"What? I may be older, but I remember what teenagers are like. There's only a few ways to upset a girl like you did when she's not even your girlfriend, and they all involve sex. So you're not going to be having any of it."

Katniss can't help but laugh at him now and she wonders what all the girls at school would think if they could see the dreamy Gale Hawthorne getting scolded like a child.

"Is this really necessary in front of Katniss?" Gale asks, gritting his teeth as he goes to set the firewood down.

"It's not as though she doesn't know about it, seeing as how she had to bear the brunt of that girl's anger yesterday. You need to think about the ramifications of your behavior, Gale. If you find it embarrassing, you have only yourself to blame."

Hazelle walks into the other bedroom and Katniss hears her telling Vick to share toys with Posy. She thinks that she ought to be embarrassed by the whole situation, but the warm feeling of being part of a real family, with a real mother, outweighs any other feeling. She's always liked that Hazelle doesn't treat her like an outsider.

"I would apologize, but I think you enjoyed watching her embarrass me," Gale says. "So what did you get from the baker?"

"Just a few rolls," Katniss pulls them out of the sack and divides them up.

"They'll go well with rabbit stew," Gale says.

For a moment, Katniss doesn't move from the table even though she knows she has nothing else that needs doing at the Hawthorne's. But she feels strangely at home. Gale's rummaging around for a place to put the rolls, she can hear Vic and Posy playing, and Hazelle is humming. She knows her own house will either be quiet or filled with sounds of sickness, and neither appeals to her.

When she looks up, Gale is studying her. She gets the feeling that he can detect some trace of wistfulness in her. Before he gets some strange notion about her being lonely or something, Katniss says,

"I've got to get back. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then."

She lets herself out and treads back to her own house.

* * *

_AN: Alright, I hope you enjoyed reading. Please feel free to give me feedback and let me know if there's anything you'd like to see. I can't promise I'll use your suggestions, but I will read them and give them serious thought, promise :) _


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Thanks for the wonderful, positive feedback! I'll try to update more frequently in the future. Oh, and bohobo: I plan on stretching it out a bit. It would be no fun if they got together ASAP._

* * *

A week later, Katniss spends another full day searching for St. John's Wort. She was able to get a few sprigs last week when Gale took over the day's hunting. This week she's having less luck and the plants she found the previous week haven't sprouted new growth. Finally, she abandons her usual gathering sites by the stream and walks farther in search of yellow blossoms. She's eventually able to find a few sprigs, but even those are largely overrun by a leafy, green plant. She stares at it intently. It's familiar. She's seen it in the plant book, if she could just remember-

"Any luck?"

Katniss jumps at Gale's voice.

"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that!"

"You should be more aware of your surroundings."

Katniss scowls.

"Well?" He asks, smirking.

"I found a little bit, not as much as I would have liked. And not in the usual places."

"I gathered that. But you found something at least?"

Katniss nods.

"Well, it's early in the season still."

"Yeah. Let's see your haul."

Opening the bag, Katniss finds nothing but three squirrels and frowns. That's not much, not enough in fact. He'd done far better the previous week.

"Gale?"

"What?"

He won't meet her eyes and Katniss doesn't know what to say. She supposes there is no point in chastising him, but she had expected better.

" I thought I did pretty well for being on my own…"

Gale looks down and Katniss is at a loss for words. He's probably as upset as she is. Probably embarrassed too. She thinks she ought to try and hide her disappointment.

"Well, okay then," she manages. "I guess you can have two squirrels, I'll take one and-

"Oh, did I forget to tell you about this?"

Gale has retreated a few steps and bends to pick something up. When he turns around, he's holding a large buck and grinning.

Katniss laughs, partially out of relief, but mostly because of what a production he's made of it.

"And you believed I only had three squirrels," he scoffs.

He lifts the buck onto his shoulders and puffs out his chest. Katniss just rolls her eyes.

"That wasn't nice! You had me worried!" But her heart isn't in the chastising. Instead, she's thrilled, thinking about just how much the buck will go for.

They take it directly to the butcher, who is always ready to pay a fair price for deer like that. Gale is practically strutting and Katniss is too pleased mind. He's going to be insufferable for a little while, maybe a long while, but the deer is well worth it.

Once they've been paid ten coins each, they make their way to the Hob and sit down at Greasy Sae's in high spirits.

"Well, I haven't seen you here in a while, Hawthorne."

"He's been under house arrest," Katniss says cheerfully, earning her a scowl from Gale.

"I heard there was a bit of a scuffle at the schoolyard," Sae says, giving Katniss a wink.

"It really wasn't that exciting," Gale grumbles.

"Really? Because I could have sworn I heard something about dating a few girls at once."

"He's a heartbreaker," Katniss agrees, mostly just to watch Gale grow more uncomfortable. "But he shot a buck today, so I suppose he has his uses."

"So that's what you're both so pleased about," Sae says. "I guess he is good for something other than the slag heap."

Katniss and Gale both gape, aghast that even Sae knows about the slag heap. But before they can digest this piece of news, Darius has grabbed the seat beside Katniss.

"Slag heap? Isn't that where you kids go to fool around?"

"Something like that," Gale mumbles.

"Hmmm, well I wouldn't be opposed to a trip," Darius says, giving Katniss an exaggerated wink. Gale tenses. At one time, Katniss would have done the same. But, Darius' flirtatious teasing is so common, and harmless, that Katniss no longer bothers getting embarrassed by it.

"I've never been," she says. "Don't plan on going either. Gale's the resident expert."

Katniss expects some witty reply from Gale, but he just frowns at his soup the same way he does when he's trying to figure out what snare to set.

"Gale?"

"Maybe he choked on whatever Sae put in that concotion."

Before Sae can chastise Darius a boom echoes through the building and the floor shakes. Katniss grips the counter for support and tries to figure out why her stomach is sinking. She's feeling a horribly familiar sense of dread threatening to build into something like panic.

"Is that-

The sound of sirens cuts off Darius' question. Katniss feels her throat close as she recognizes what those sirens mean. There's been an accident at the mines.

* * *

Katniss and Gale see the flames burning above one of the mine shafts the moment they step outside the Hob. They sprint to the site, pushing through the crowd that's already forming. Peacekeepers are trying to cordon off the area while emergency crews attempt to fight the fire. The surrounding mines are being evacuated and family members are already searching frantically, hoping their loved ones are among those evacuated.

Katniss watches the surrounding chaos, feeling like it's a series of still photographs passing by her. The images in front of her blend together with memories from that horrible day four years ago. Her eyes are burning and everything feels unsteady. She finds herself gripping Gale's arm to keep the ground from falling out from under her.

Katniss isn't sure how much times passes that way with them standing, staring at the disaster. Fifteen minutes? Maybe thirty? Then she hears someone shout "Survivors!"

She stands on her tip toes and sees men covered in coal dust emerging. There are three men altogether, with two of them carrying the third. The injuries she can see make her feel ill. The men walking have cuts and burn marks, but the man being carried looks as though part of the skin on his chest has been ripped off.

Katniss struggles to breathe, trying to shut her eyes, but unable to.

Suddenly she finds her body turned around and her face buried in Gale's hunting jacket. For a moment she smells pine, orange and the smell that is distinctly Gale. Able to breathe again, she takes deep shuddering breaths as he keeps a tight hold on her. It all lasts less than a minute, but it steadies her.

He gives her one last squeeze, and then pulls away, placing a hand on each of her arms.

"Katniss," he says, staring intently at her. "You need to go to your mother and help her get ready to treat the survivors. I'm going to help bring the injured over to her, okay?"

Katniss nods,

"Alright, get going. I'll see you in a little bit."

She sprints away, the crowd parting as they see her dashing forward, and she makes it home in record time. Pulling open the door, she finds her mother sitting at the table with a trembling Prim on her lap.

Prim lets out a little cry and springs from her mother's lap and into Katniss' arms.

"There's been a mining accident," Katniss says, even though her mother probably knows. "There's survivors, and they're going to be on their way here for treatment."

Mrs. Everdeen blinks a few times and takes several shaky breaths. Then, she stands up and nods resolutely.

"Prim, you heard your sister," she says. "We have preparing to do. Get out lavender and golden seal. Katniss, go see if the fence is on. If it's not, gather calendula, yarrow, and birthroot."

Katniss runs out the back, just in time to see Gale and Thom carrying the injured man towards her house.

"Where are you going?" Gale asks.

"To get herbs."

Gale nods and Katniss takes off towards the fence. She's still running frantically, trying not to waste anyone's time. She nearly runs into the fence, but some instinct stops her and she stumbles back. Finally still, she hears the faint hum of electricity and groans. Of course the Capitol would turn the fence on right when people are desperately counting on the herbs outside it.

At first she waits, hoping it's some kind of fluke and the fence will be shut off quickly. But the minutes tick by and the fence still hums. Defeated, she trudges back towards her house and stops when she reaches the door.

"Try tilting it that way."

Gale is twisting his own kitchen table to the side to fit it through the Everdeens' door. Thom follows his lead and they manage to move the table inside and set it a few feet away from the Everdeens' kitchen table, which is now covered with a sheet and a moaning miner.

"Fence on?"

Gale asks as Prim rushes to throw a sheet on his table. Katniss nods miserably. Gale looks furious.

"Fucking Capitol," he mutters.

Katniss doesn't bother refuting him. She understands his anger better than usual. But she doesn't feel it, she just feels helpless.

"Catnip," Gale has come around and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "It's not your fault the fence is on."

He squeezes her gently and turns back to Thom.

"I bet we can fit one more table in here," he says.

"We can take my family's," Thom says.

Gale meets Katniss' eyes, asking her if she's alright. She nods and he tells Thom,

"Let's get going."

* * *

Within an hour, the Everdeens' house has become an infirmary. There are three tables covered with sheets sitting in the main room. Chairs have been arranged on the Everdeens' porch for families to wait without disturbing Prim and her mother. Katniss has mashed a variety of herbs into pastes, chopped wood for splints, and cut cloth into various sizes for bandages.

Hazelle Hawthorne shows up to help Prim and Mrs. Everdeen care for the injured. Vick and Posy are sent to the other room to play and Rory runs around the Seam collecting blankets, cloth, and anything else that may be of use.

Despite all their preparations, there is just one patient. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen quickly treated all the miners who could still walk and sent them home. The miner with the severely burned chest is lying on one of the tables, moaning weakly. No other survivors have emerged.

"The Capitol is sending a hovercraft to help put out the fire," Gale tells them after he returns from a trip to the mine entrance to gather news.

"Once the fire's out, they're going to send in rescue crews. I tried to volunteer, but they wouldn't take me. Experienced miners only."

"Of course," Hazelle says, but Katniss can see how relieved she looks. Everyone knows the mines are even more dangerous than usual after an accident. The rescue crew could very well get caught in a cave-in or fire. Katniss isn't sorry to hear Gale's help isn't wanted.

They all decide to wait together at the Everdeens'. Gale goes to the mine periodically and returns with updates. Katniss can't bring herself to go with him. She's not sure she could stand seeing the families huddled around the mine entrance, waiting for a loved one who will likely never return.

After Gale returns for the third time, they eat a small dinner. The meal is particularly grim. The hovercraft from the capitol has not arrived, and everyone knows the longer the fire rages, the less likely there will be survivors. Gale also checked the fence and found the electricity still on. Katniss knows he is so angry that he can barely function. He clenches his jaw every time he chews and moves his utensils with stiff precision, as though he is putting all his effort into not slamming them.

Like Katniss, his family seems to know better than to speak to him. Hazelle speaks quietly to Posy and Vick. Rory, Prim and Mrs. Everdeen all poke their food around, not really eating. Katniss doesn't feel much like eating, but she knows its necessary. She's about to tell Prim and her mother so, when Hazelle cuts in.

"I see far too much food on some of your plates," she says. "We're going to need our strength in the next few days. We need to eat and rest while we can, especially if we're going to take care of the injured."

She stares pointedly at Mrs. Everdeen and then at Prim. Rory and Prim both begin to eat with more vigor. Katniss watches her mother blink, nod, and start to eat more as well. She sighs, grateful to have Hazelle to do the mothering.

The mood stays somber after dinner. Gale says the Everdeens may need more wood and offers to chop some. Katniss knows they don't need any more, at least not yet, but she doesn't stop him. She has a feeling he just wants to blow off steam. Her suspicions are confirmed when she watches him not so much chop wood as attack a tree, swinging the ax haphazardly against the tree quickly and furiously, never stopping to pause between strokes.

After he carries in a pile of wood, Gale goes back to the mine again to check on things. Prim and her mother change the dressing on the wounded miner's chest. When Gale returns, he says the hovercraft still hasn't arrived. Hazelle shakes her head and says,

"We should all rest while we can. We can sleep in shifts. I'll start and then wake you up in a few hours."

Hazelle looks over at Mrs. Everdeen for confirmation and she nods.

"Gale, why don't you take the kids back home and-

"Everyone can stay here," Katniss' mother cuts in. "I wouldn't want to split your family up tonight. Besides, it won't hurt to have Gale and Rory on hand."

It's cozy fitting everyone inside the house, but it works surprisingly well. Mrs. Everdeen and Prim go into her bed. Posy and Vick take the other bed. Rory had fetched more than enough blankets for him, Katniss, and Gale to sleep with relative comfort on the floor.

Mrs. Everdeen looks over her patient one last time and then Hazelle shoos everyone off to bed, insisting they need rest.

"You two need sleep too," she says, giving Katniss and Gale pointed looks. "I promise to wake you both up if there's any news or new patients."

"Mom, if you get tired-

"I'm waking up Mrs. Everdeen in a few hours. I'll be fine, Gale."

She brings him into a tight hug and he kisses the top of her head.

"Night Mom."

"Goodnight," she turns to Katniss. "Goodnight dear. I hope my children don't keep you awake. Rory tells me that Gale snores."

Katniss manages her first smile in hours.

"I'll throw something at him."

"Good."

Hazelle wraps Katniss in a hug and then sends them both to bed. When they get inside the bedroom, Rory is tucking the covers around Posy and Vick is climbing into bed. Posy looks at Gale and says,

"I guess no story tonight."

Her eyes are wide as she stares up at him and twists her hands around her dress. Gale looks thoughtful for a moment.

"Who said anything about missing story time?" he asks.

"There's no book."

"That's okay Pose, I know the story by heart."

"Yay!"

Posy lets out a delighted giggle and Gale finally cracks a smile.

"Scoot over," she tells Vick. He obliges and Posy pats a space beside her that is far too small to comfortably fit Gale. Nonetheless, he settles himself on the bed, with his right leg hanging off and bracing him. He tucks one arm around Posy and lets the other dangle off the bed.

Katniss grabs some blankets and arranges them a few feet away from where Rory is climbing into blankets of his own.

"So where did we leave off last night?" Gale asks. "Has Cinderella met her fairy godmother yet?"

He flashes a wink in Rory and Katniss' direction.

"Yes!" Posy says. "She just told Cinderella that she was going to the ball!"

"Okay," Gale closes his eyes and tilts his head to the side for a moment. "Well, before Cinderella could go to the ball, she had to get a dress. So, her fairy godmother waved her wand, and suddenly Cinderella's rags became a beautiful dress."

"What did the dress look like?" Posy asks.

"Uh…"

Katniss has to stifle a snort of amusement.

"Who cares?" Vick rolls his eyes.

"I care!" Posy says. "What does it look like, Gale?"

"It's uhm blue annnddd uh, it has short sleeves. And uhm, a kinda puffy skirt."

Posy is satisfied and Rory and Katniss manage to contain their snickers.

"So, Cinderella got her dress, but she still needed shoes. So the fairy godmother transformed her old rags into beautiful, glass slippers. Then she needed to find a way for Cinderella to get to the ball. So she went into the vegetable garden, waved her wand, and turned a pumpkin into a carriage."

Katniss settles into her cocoon of blankets, folding one of them up to serve as a pillow. Once she lies down, she's surprised by how peaceful she feels. The day's events were wearing on her just an hour earlier, but now she finds herself concerned only with Gale's retelling of the fairytale. Just ten minutes later, she's lulled to sleep by the sound of his voice.


	3. Chapter 3

_So this is a longer chapter than usual, but it all takes place on the same day, so it felt strange to break it. The only natural break would have left you guys with a shorter chapter than usual, and I figured no one wanted that. _

_Bohobo: I think we all want Katniss and Gale to get married, have babies, and live happily ever after. I still resent Suzanne Collins a little for taking that away from me.  
_

_To all my other reviews: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.  
_

* * *

Gale is indeed snoring when Katniss wakes up, but so is Rory. Between the two of them, it's such a loud, rumbling sound that she's surprised it didn't wake her up during the night. Smirking, she goes over to nudge Gale awake, but finds she doesn't need to. When she gets close to him, Gale opens his eyes and looks around, taking in his surroundings. Katniss inclines her head toward the forest outside the bedroom window and he nods. She collects her clothes and leaves to change.

When she emerges from the room where Hazelle and Prim are sleeping, Katniss finds Gale talking quietly with her mother.

"If there are survivors, they'll be in bad shape at this point," her mother is saying. "I don't know that I'll be able to do much for them. Those kinds of injuries, after this long…"

She trails off and shakes her head.

"I figured," Gale says. "I wonder if-

Katniss clears her throat. She doesn't want to know what Gale is wondering. She doesn't want to hear about this anymore.

"Anyhow," Gale shrugs. "We're going to go see if the fence is on. See, if we can't scrounge up some food and herbs."

Mrs. Everdeen nods and they set off.

The moment they step outside the house, the weight of the accident presses down on them. Inside, Katniss could almost think everything was going to be okay. She could get lost listening to Gale tell fairytales and Hazelle fuss over her children. But out here, the fire is still raging, smoke and ashes are still billowing into the air, and families are still waiting, looking as though the life has been sucked out of them.

Gale clenches his jaw when he looks at the flames, and his shoulders slump as they set off towards the woods. Katniss keeps her eyes fixed on the ground ahead, not wanting to see anything more than necessary. As they approach the fence, Gale stops first, tense for a moment. Then he lets out a string of profanity directed at the Capitol.

"_Shut up_!" Katniss whispers, pulling him away from the humming fence. Gale jerks his arm out of her hold and swears some more as he walks away from her and heads towards an abandoned home. He kicks at the fence outside it, sending part of the rickety structure falling to the ground. Katniss scans the area around them, grateful that no one seems to be around to witness Gale's meltdown.

After a few more kicks at the fence, he stands still, looking towards the fire with his hands fisted in his hair. Katniss stays a few feet back from him, her eyes darting between Gale and their surroundings. Finally, he lets out a long breath and says,

"I'm going to go check for news."

He looks at her and Katniss freezes. He's waiting to see if she is going to come with him, but she can't. She can't see all the families waiting, officials talking, fires raging, ashes-ashes everywhere. Just like it was four years ago.

"You should go check on the kids, hold down the fort," Gale says. Katniss knows he's babying her and it grates on her. Gale's never babied her before.

"I can go too," she snaps.

Gale furrows his eyebrows.

"You can, but you don't want to."

"And you do?"

"Somebody has to."

Katniss thinks that he probably hates it as much as she does, and she hates herself for wanting to turn around and go home. They ought to do it together.

"I'll come with you."

"I'd rather you didn't."

Katniss reels back, suddenly angrier with Gale than she's been in a long time. She glares at him, giving him a moment to amend what he's said. But looking at him she sees only frustration and no repentance, so she leaves without another word.

When Gale returns to the Everdeen's, Katniss doesn't look up from the cloth she's cutting into strips. She can feel his eyes on her for a moment before he tells everyone that the hovercraft has finally arrived.

"Good," Hazelle says. "Let's eat quickly, so we're ready to work this afternoon."

She helps Mrs. Everdeen serve up berries and porridge and they all sit down at the table. To Katniss' displeasure, Gale takes the chair directly across from her.

Katniss ignores his attempts to catch her eye during the first part of the meal. He's staring hard at her, willing her to look at him, but she's feeling far too stubborn to relent.

"Will you pass the honey?" he asks finally.

"Since when do you like honey on porridge?"

"Since now."

Katniss grabs the bowl and forces herself to meet his eyes. For a moment, he looks sorry, but Katniss doesn't feel like acknowledging that yet. Instead, she just glares at him, prompting him to scoff and shake his head. She slams the honey bowl in front of him and the spoon clatters noisily.

"Careful, Katniss!" her mother says.

Hazelle looks between Gale and Katniss and raises an eyebrow.

During the rest of the meal, Katniss tries her best not to slam anything else, but it takes more effort than she would have expected. Gale seems to be everywhere, taking up the whole space of her vision and forcing her to stare at her plate. Thankfully, he doesn't speak much. Because when he does, all she can think about is the flat tone of his voice when he told her didn't want her with him.

After everyone is finished, Rory takes Vick and Posy into another room. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen look in on their only patient, and Hazelle, Gale and Katniss are left to clean up the dishes. Katniss begins to clear bowls off the table and Gale is beside her in a moment picking up the glasses behind her. She clanks the bowls together as she piles them one on top of the other in her hands.

"Catnip-

Katniss turns away and stalks over to the sink where Hazelle is running water.

"Katniss!" He is beside her again.

She slams the bowls hard on the counter, hoping to drown out his voice. Then, she strides back to the table. The clatter she hears behind her gives her some satisfaction. At least, he's reduced to slamming things too. Without another word, they work side by side to clear off the cutlery, then they go to the sink to begin drying the dishes.

Once there, they both reach for the same dish rag and glare at each other.

"Take it," Gale mutters, grabbing another off the rack.

They commence drying dishes, exchanging scowls when they go for the same dish or have to reach around one another to put dry dishes on the shelves. The only sound is the running water and the scratching of the brush as Hazelle scrubs.

It's when Katniss and Gale both reach for the same serving bowl, and both refuse to let go of it, that Hazelle finally loses her patience.

"Honestly," she shakes her head at them. "This is absurd. I'm going to leave you two to finish up the dishes _and_ your little glaring contest."

She puts the scrub brush down and strides off. Mortified, Katniss stares at the floor and tries to ignore the heat on her face.

"She's not really upset," Gale says. "Just forcing us to get along."

Katniss snaps her head up at that.

"Well, if you hadn't told me to go away when we're-we…we should have gone together."

"I was trying to help."

"So was I!"

"Well, you weren't!"

Katniss steps back, reeling again.

"Shit. Katniss, please!"

The desperation in his voice stops her from walking away again.

"That didn't come out right at all. Neither did what I said before," he shakes his head and lets out a breath. "I didn't want you to come because I knew you didn't want to. I knew it was going to hurt you."

"I'm not made of glass, Gale! I can handle it!"

"I know, Katniss_, I know_!" He slams his dish rag on the counter. "But you didn't have to. I could do it. It was the one damn thing I could do!"

And then she understands. He couldn't put out the fire. He couldn't join the rescue crew. He may as well have been fourteen again for all the good he could do.

"Those people are dying. The fence is on-who knows for how long. I just-just…

"Wanted to do something to help someone," she finishes. Gale nods and rests his hands against the counter. Katniss has never seen him look so defeated.

"Well you're right," she tells him. "I can do it, but I don't want to. I hate even thinking about what's happening there. But I figured you hated it too, for the same reasons I do. So how would it be fair for me to stay here and make you go?"

"I don't know. I'd just rather it be me."

Katniss knows that feeling better than she knows just about any other feeling. She only halfway understands why he feels that way about this. Just like she only halfway understood why she wanted to knock Tia Hemlock senseless when she slapped Gale in the school yard. But she doesn't question it. Instead, she meets his eyes and says,

"Okay."

He stares at her for a moment.

"Okay."

And she's glad she doesn't need to say that she forgives him, that she's sorry too, and that she's grateful he's going to keep checking on the mines without her. They both know "okay" actually means all those things anyway.

* * *

Her relief over being at peace with Gale doesn't last long though. Twenty minutes later the first survivors start arriving and Katniss devotes all her energy to keeping her composure. She wants to vomit, faint, and run all at the same time, but those aren't luxuries she's allowed. Instead, her mother enlists Katniss' help in caring for the patients with more superficial wounds. So she forces herself to concentrate on the cuts she's disinfecting and the burns she's rubbing with salve. She doesn't even dare look at the injuries her mother and Prim are working on.

For a few hours this works well enough. Katniss is able to stomach the sight of these minor injuries and it keeps her from seeing the major ones. But eventually she has helped everyone she can, and she looks around the room for her next task.

Hazelle is at the door speaking quietly to a few Seam families. Prim is coaxing a miner with a bandage on his head to drink tea. Rory is cutting more wood for splints. Gale is lifting a miner onto one of the tables as Mrs. Everdeen leans over, looking at his leg.

Katniss doesn't need to see his leg to know that whatever is on it is nothing good. Her mother looks apprehensive and Gale looks disgusted. She stays well away until her mother calls her over.

Reluctantly, Katniss approaches, relieved that Gale is standing between her line of sight and the patient.

"We're going to need alcohol," her mother says.

"Like for drinking?" Katniss frowns.

"Yes, so he feels less when we amputate his leg," Mrs. Everdeen says, remarkably calm.

Katniss feels her stomach lurch.

"I'll-I'll see if Ripper can spare any."

"Hurry. We'll have to start in about an hour, with or without it."

Horrified, Katniss leaves the house and jogs towards the Hob. The black market is largely empty and the quiet is eerie. Katniss looks around at the empty stalls and vacant stools. She can't find Ripper anywhere.

"Come on!" she stamps her foot.

"Come on and what," the words are slurred together and Katniss looks up. Haymitch Abernathy, District 12's only Hunger Games victor, is staring at her, leaning against a stall for support. Katniss feels something like hope.

"You," she says, striding quickly over to Haymitch. "You have to know where Ripper is! Where is she?"

"Don't know, probably the same place as everyone else."

Katniss growls with frustration. If Ripper is at the mines there is no way she'll find her in the crowd, persuade her to part with alcohol, and get it back before her mother starts the amputation.

"Damnit!" She kicks at the ground again.

"That desperate for a drink?"

Haymtich is laughing and that makes Katniss livid.

"You think it's funny?" she asks, leaning into his face. "You want your leg chopped off without so much as a drink first? That your idea of a good time? Because that's what's going to happen if I can't get some damn alcohol!"

She's almost angry enough to pull out her own hunting knife and give his leg and good cut, just so he has a small idea of what it might feel like. Her hand is halfway to her jacket pocket when Haymitch says,

"I have alcohol."

Katniss goes completely still. Would he just give it to them? He's not from the Seam, what does he care about the miners? But if he would…but that's impossible.

"I can't pay you," she says at last.

"You really think I need the money?" he snorts. "Come on, let's go get it."

Katniss can't quite believe she's following Haymitch Abernathy into the Victor's Village, but she's not about to protest. She doesn't even dare tell him to hurry up because she's so afraid one wrong move will change her, and the miner's, good fortune.

But soon enough she finds herself in the Victor's Village, standing outside his door. When he opens it again, he hands her a bag with three large bottles inside. She stares in disbelief, knowing how much they must have cost.

"That ought to get you started."

Katniss stares at him, taking in his sandy hair and weathered skin, trying to see if there's some hint that she should have seen this coming. His eyes are empty, betraying no motive of any kind.

"Thank you," she manages at last.

He nods, then shuts the door abruptly. Katniss stares at the door for a moment before she turns around and jogs back towards home.

When she arrives at her house, she sees families sitting on the front porch. and she runs to the back of the house to avoid them. She enters the back door and finds Gale rinsing their saw off in the sink.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Cleaning the saw."

She can see that, but she wants to know why he would bother. She stares at him, waiting for an answer, but he just looks down and goes back to scrubbing.

"Gale?"

"We're chopping his leg off Katniss."

She nearly drops her bag and grips the counter.

"With a saw?"

"To cut through the bone."

Katniss does drop the bag, but Gale catches it before it hits the ground. She feels slightly sick as the image of what Gale's described swirls in her mind.

"Katniss, how the hell did you get all this off Ripper?"

Gale is looking at the bag in shock.

"Not off Ripper. From Haymitch Abernathy. For free."

She adds the last part because she knows that was going to be Gale's next question. Gale searches her face for a moment and then lets out a low whistle.

"I guess he's good for something."

Katniss shrugs, nods, and takes the bottles over to her mother. Mrs. Everdeen is bent over a man who is coughing blood into a bowl. Katniss looks away and forces herself not to flinch.

"I have the alcohol."

"Take it into my room, we're going to do the operation there."

Katniss gladly takes the opportunity to leave. Inside her mother's room the mattress has been pushed against the wall and a large board with a pillow is on the bed frame instead. Her mother's dresser has been pushed close to the bed and Hazelle is arranging medical supplies on it.

"I have some alcohol," Katniss says.

"That's something at least," Hazelle says. Katniss notices how her lips are pressed into a thin line, just like Gale's when he's sad. Katniss wants to offer some kind of comfort, but she has none to give. The whole situation is grim, and Hazelle is right to be upset. Gingerly, Katniss reaches out and gives Hazelle's hand a small squeeze.

"Oh come here, dear," she pulls Katniss into a hug and says, "We just have to keep on doing the best we can."

She lets Katniss go as the door opens. Mrs. Everdeen holds it open behind her as Gale and another man carry in the injured miner. Almost against her own will, Katniss finds herself looking at his leg and then looking away. The lower part of the leg is swollen and dark purple. The area around the knee is covered in bleeding bandages that hide something Katniss is sure she doesn't need to see.

Trying to find something else to watch, she turns instead to see Hazelle opening a bottle and pouring some alcohol into the man's mouth as he moans weakly.

"At least he's barely conscious," Mrs. Everdeen says quietly. "Give him a bit more."

Hazelle does so and they all wait in silence for a while. Then Mrs. Everdeen grabs a cord from the table and ties it tightly above the man's knees. Hazelle takes a cloth and blindfolds him.

"One of you get his shoulders, the other get his legs," Mrs. Everdeen says to Gale and the other man.

Gale moves to the man's legs and then looks up at Katniss.

"What's Katniss going to do?" he asks.

Mrs. Everdeen looks over at her, as though remembering her presence.

"Nothing. Katniss, you may not want-

"I'll leave."

Moved by a new sense of dread she finds her feet again and flees the room.

A few minutes later she hears the animalistic scream and all but runs out the back door. The screams follow her there and she curls up against the side of her house, gasping for air. She wants to run away. She's starting to move when she hears another sound. Posy's whimpers are drifting from the window not far from where Katniss is standing.

"It's okay, it's okay."

Rory's voice sounds as terrified as Katniss feels and it gives her a new sense of purpose. She takes a deep breath and shuts out the screams, focusing only on Posy's whimpers as she makes her way back inside. Prim is tending the patients in the main room and Katniss reminds herself that if her baby sister can handle this, then she can too.

She strides into her bedroom, where she sees Posy wailing into Rory's chest and Vick crying into a pillow on the bed.

"It's going to be okay," Katniss says, forcing herself to speak with an authority she doesn't feel. "They're doing an operation to save his life. It hurts, but it's for the best."

Rory swallows and nods as he bounces Posy against him. Katniss sits down on the bed beside Vick.

"It's awful right now, but it's going to get better," she says. Vick hiccups into the pillow and Katniss starts rubbing his back before she can wonder whether that's what she ought to be doing. Prim would be better at this. Gale would be too. But they're needed elsewhere, so she'll have to give it her best shot.

She gestures to the space beside her on the bed and Rory sits down, keeping Posy on his lap. Katniss drapes her free arm around Rory and keeps rubbing Vick's back.

"This is terrible, but my mom and Prim are great healers," she says. "One time, we had a woman trying to give a birth, and the baby was upside down, but they still managed to get her delivered. You should have heard the screaming, but they were both fine."

Katniss doesn't wait for a response, instead she launches into another story of her mother and Prim saving a patient. She keeps at this for awhile, even telling them how Prim nursed Lady to health. Eventually, she realizes the screaming has stopped and both Vick and Posy are asleep.

She lets out a sigh and catches Rory's small smile.

"Thanks," he says.

"Of course."

Feeling slightly better, or at least useful, Katniss stands up and heads back into the main room to face whatever is next.


	4. Chapter 4

_Another longer chapter. I swear we're almost done with awful mining accident stuff. Come to think of it though, the next few chapters are still going to be somewhat grim. I really appreciate everyone who has reviewed, favorited or followed the story. I especially appreciate bohobo and Ellenka for their longer reviews. Constructive criticism and suggestions are also completely appreciated. _

_Oh, and bohobo: Please forgive the medical inaccuracies that I'm sure exist in this chapter. Since you're studying to be a nurse you probably knows things about burns, internal bleeding, etc that I don't. So, please bear with me:)  
_

* * *

Katniss feels significantly less ready to face much of anything as the next two days drag on. Miners continue to pour into their home, and they seem to be arriving in worse and worse condition. There is no longer room for all of them, even after Posy and Vick are forced to vacate the second bedroom. Mrs. Everdeen is constantly sending home patients that Katniss knows she would have preferred to monitor longer.

Vick and Posy are confined to the kitchen or told to play outside. Katniss knows someone ought to be spending time with them, helping them digest the images of death all around them, but there are no spare hands. Even Rory, who knows nothing about healing and isn't strong enough to do much heavy lifting, has been put to work. He awkwardly cleans out wounds, grinds herbs, and helps wash linens.

Katniss has a similar set of chores, though she is forced to look over more severe wounds than the ones assigned to Rory. Hazelle is more decisive than Mrs. Everdeen, so she directs everyone's work and decides which patients need Prim or Mrs. Everdeen's immediate attention. Unlike Katniss, Hazelle doesn't flinch at even the most grotesque injuries, so she is able to assist in stitching wounds, setting broken bones, and even a few more amputations.

Gale is responsible for moving miners, holding them still during painful procedures, chopping wood for splints, and the worst task of all: removing the dead. They've lost six patients during the last two days, all of whom came to them in such bad condition that even Katniss knew there was little hope for them. That doesn't make it any less painful to watch. The people Katniss sees sobbing over their dead fathers and brothers are the same people she's sees in the lunch room at school, and though Katniss isn't generally the sympathetic type, she hates watching her classmates experience a pain she's all to familiar with.

Around mid-afternoon, Prim finally breaks down. Katniss sees her run out of Mrs. Everdeen's room and out the side of the house. Hazelle comes out of the door moments later calling for Gale.

"We lost someone else," she says quietly as Gale approaches. He nods and takes off towards the bedroom.

Hazelle goes to find the family and Katniss chases after Prim. She finds her sitting slumped against the side of her house, sobbing with her head in her hands. Katniss settles down beside her and wraps an arm around her.

At first, Katniss tries to think of comforting words to say, but everything sounds completely trite. So she just sits with Prim until her shoulders stop shaking and her sobs become sniffles.

"I really thought we might have been able to save him," Prim says quietly. "His burns were healing, but then he started coughing up all this blood. I guess he had internal injuries, but we didn't realize until it was too late. We were so focused on the burns, if we'd started treating the internal bleeding sooner, then maybe-

"Shhh," Katniss cuts her off. "You know as well I do that you can't always tell when someone's bleeding internally. Not when they're half covered in burns anyway. Besides, there's only so much we can do for those kinds of injuries."

"But-

"No buts. You're doing the best you can. So many more people would be dying if it weren't for you."

Prim sighs heavily.

"We need to go back," she says. "I don't want to, but Mom needs us. I'm worried about her, Katniss."

Katniss hadn't thought about how her mother was holding up. There had been too many other things to worry about. She grimaces thinking about it, but to Prim she only says,

"Don't worry, little duck. I'll look after Mom, you look after your patients."

She stands up and offers Prim her hand. On their way inside, Gale meets them at the door. His shoulders are slumped and he's carrying their ax in one hand. His hair is disheveled, and judging by the circles under his eyes, Katniss would guess he's gotten even less sleep than she has.

"Where are you going?" Prim asks him.

"To chop wood, we need more splints," he says. Prim looks him up and down, then says,

"I think you should take a nap. I'm sure someone else can chop wood."

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks though," he ruffles Prim's hair.

Katniss raises her eyebrows at him, reminding him that he certainly doesn't look fine. He reads her gaze, grimaces, and shrugs. He thinks he's holding up as well as anyone else, and he probably is, so Katniss knows there's no point in trying to make him rest.

"Suit yourself," she tells him. "But Prim's right."

This gets a smile out of him, and Katniss notices there's a bit more spirit in his step as he heads into their yard.

Back inside the house, Katniss is mixing herbs when she feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns around to find Gale's friend Thom staring at her.

"Do you know where Gale is?"

Katniss doesn't mind that he's dispensed with any pleasantries, but she is surprised. Thom is usually unfailingly polite, asking her how she is and joking about whether Gale's managed to get up to her archery level. But right now his eyes are bloodshot, he's slightly out of breath, and his face is pale beneath his olive skin, giving it an almost greenish hue.

"He's out back, chopping wood. Do you need him right away?"

Thom nods.

"I'll get him."

When Katniss gets outside, Gale is venting his frustration on a tree again. She doesn't dare get too close when he's swinging the ax like that, so she shouts to him instead. He stops and turns to face her.

"Thom is asking for you. Something's wrong with him."

Gale's face shifts into grim understanding.

"They've probably found his dad or brother. Can you bring the wood in?"

"Of course."

"Thanks Catnip."

Gale touches her shoulder and then jogs back inside. Katniss feels an uncomfortable twist in her stomach. She doesn't know Thom well, but she sort of likes him, more than she likes most people anyway. He's the only person that gets real smiles out of Gale, aside from his family and Katniss, of course.

Katniss has never talked to Thom's brother, but she did talk to his father once. She and Gale ran into him at the Hob. He'd laughed heartily when he'd seen them hauling game in. After a few pleasantries, he'd looked at them both and said, "you'd make your fathers proud." Then he'd clapped them each on the shoulder and walked off before Katniss and Gale had to struggle to find an appropriate reply.

Katniss feels her throat close and shakes her head. She pushes Thom's father out of her mind, stiffens her back, and walks back inside. Gale and Thom are nowhere to be seen and she goes back to mashing herbs for a while before anguished cries grab her attention.

Gale and Thom have just walked into the room carrying a bloodied miner on a board. Behind them, a woman is clinging to Thom's arm, sobbing and crying out incoherent words. Thom looks to be on the verge of tears with red eyes and a quivering chin. Even Gale looks shaken. His face has lost all its color and his mouth is pressed into a thin line.

Hazelle is at their side in no time.

"Oh Ava," she pulls the woman off Thom and enfolds her in a hug. Gale and Thom move the board towards her, but before Katniss can get a good look at the injured miner, Gale says,

"Get your mom."

He doesn't need to tell her to hurry. Katniss can see the urgency written all over his face, and she rushes into her mother's bedroom.

"We have an emergency," she says. "The guy who just came in is really bad."

Katniss leads her mother towards Gale and Thom, and just as she's getting close enough to see, Gale stops her and says,

"You don't want to see this."

Katniss takes in the pain in his eyes and his ashen face, and thinks she probably doesn't. She steps back, unsure what she ought to be doing. Mashing herbs seems trivial now. Her mother is calling for both Prim and Hazelle, and directing Gale and Thom to bring the miner into her bedroom.

The hysterical woman follows Hazelle inside.

"What's happening? What's wrong with him? Will he be okay?"

Mrs. Everdeen ignores her questions.

"Thom, take your mother outside."

Thom nods and wraps an arm around his mother.

"I'll keep you posted," Gale tells him, before shutting the bedroom door.

"I need to see him!" Thom's mother shrieks, pulling away from her son and running towards the door.

"Ma, they need to concentrate," Thom is grabbing her back into his arms. "Come on, come with me."

"No! No! Let go of me!"

She's jerking frantically in his arms, even clawing at them, as she continues to lunge for the door. The agony on Thom's face pushes Katniss into action. She jumps between Thom's mother and the door, saying firmly,

"Go with Thom. The best thing you can do for your other son is to give my mother and Prim the space they need to work. They'll talk to you when they have him stabilized. "

Katniss surprises herself with how stern and authoritative she sounds. Thom's mother stares back at her with glassy, vacant eyes, but she relaxes a bit and Thom is able to start moving her towards the front porch.

Katniss has only just started mashing herbs again, when Gale exits her mother's bedroom, covered in blood.

"They need more bandages and hot water in there," he tells her, before heading out to the porch in search of Thom.

Katniss brings the bandages in first, grateful that Hazelle grabs them before she has time to look around the room. Then she goes to the kitchen for the water. A few minutes after she's set the water to boiling, Gale comes in the kitchen and begins rinsing off the ax.

"Another amputation?" Katniss asks.

"Both his legs."

She winces.

"It's bad Katniss, really bad. Your mom even sent Prim out, because it was just…it wasn't something she ought to have seen. He's already got a fever, his legs are infected, he's got awful burns, and this cut on his chest started bleeding like crazy when we moved him. Your mom also said he's bleeding internally. I-I can't…"

He trails off.

"Can't what, Gale?"

"Never mind," he shakes his head and Katniss looks at his face. The lines in his forehead seem deeper and his eyes are red-rimmed. Katniss thinks Gale may be reaching his breaking point and the thought terrifies her. Gale is always so _un_breakable. It doesn't matter if it's a wild animal, an upcoming reaping, or food scarcity, Gale faces everything with a certain ferocity. He's always strong, volatile maybe, but strong.

"Gale?" Katniss' voice comes out in a squeak. "I-I think you need a break."

She thinks he might get angry, but the fact that he doesn't is even more disconcerting. He just stares past her out the kitchen window. Katniss attempts to fumble through an explanation.

"There's got to be a way for you to get some rest. There's lots of miners who can't go back to work yet. Maybe they could take over and you could sleep."

"I don't want to sleep," he says softly.

Katniss waits for him to explain, but he doesn't say anything else.

"Why not?"

He doesn't answer her until she says his name again irritably.

"I just don't."

"That's not an answer!" she says, exasperated. "Gale, you're being stupid! You look like hell and you need to get some sleep. It's not a sign of weakness. Everyone needs sleep-

"I don't want to dream about dead people!" Gale drops the saw into the sink with a furious clatter. "I tried to sleep earlier today, and the minute I shut my eyes, I saw nothing but mangled limbs and corpses. And I just can't fucking deal with that, okay?"

Katniss just stares at him, mouth slightly open and eyes wide. Gale looks at her and then looks away again. He pulls the saw out of the sink and pours more boiling water on it.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I-that-that was stupid. It's not that bad. I just…I think-I-if I just stay busy, it's fine. Tiring, but fine. I look worse than I feel."

Katniss almost tells him he's not fooling anyone, but stops herself when she realizes that he wants her to be fooled. She thinks that maybe if he's hurting that badly, the least she can do is let him pretend he's keeping it altogether. It's better than having him worry that expressing _his _pain is going to upset _her_.

"Okay," she says. "It'll probably be easier to sleep when this is all over anyway."

"Yeah."

He removes the saw from the sink and walks into the other room, presumably to help cut off someone's legs. Katniss chews on her lower lip as she watches his hunched shoulders.

Her mind is still on Gale as she finishes boiling water and brings the pot to her mother's bedroom. Hazelle answers the door, grabs the pot, and then quickly shuts the door again. Katniss has barely stepped away when the screaming starts. It's jarring and makes her stomach twist, but a part of her is getting used to the sound.

She goes back into the kitchen and sets more water to boil. It's then that an idea dawns on her.

She goes outside and finds Vick and Posy drawing shapes in the dirt.

"I have a job for you guys," she says.

They look up somewhat apprehensively.

"Don't worry, it won't be too hard," she says, forcing a smile onto her face. "Gale's shirt got all dirty. Can you guys go home, get another one, and bring it over to me?"

"Sure," Vick says as Posy nods earnestly.

"Thanks." Katniss ruffles both their hair and they trot off towards the Hawthorne's house.

She goes back inside and pours the boiling water into cups. Then she fetches satchels of the tea her mother uses when she needs extra energy. She brings a cup of tea to both Prim and Rory, and sips her own as she finishes mixing herbs. Then she fills a bowl with water, sets a bit more water to boiling, and puts the herbal tea mixture in another mug.

When Vick and Posy return with a fresh shirt, she tells them they did perfectly, and rewards with them with some dried fruit. They're running low, but that's a problem for another day. Many of the miners' families have already pledged to bring a little money when the mines open again. Katniss knows they'll be good for it, or at least as much as they can be.

Eventually, Gale comes out of the room, his shirt stained red and the bloody saw in his hand.

"Come with me," Katniss tells him, forcing herself not to grimace, though he looks like a vision from hell. He follows her into the kitchen and she fidgets with her hands for a moment before gesturing at the bowl of water she prepared.

"There's some water for you to clean up with. And I had Vick and Posy get you a fresh shirt."

She waves her hand at it.

"And here."

She pours the boiling water into the mug of herbal tea she'd set out for him, then puts more dried fruit on a plate beside the mug.

His eyes follow her movements slowly and she twists her hands around.

"I just thought…

But she trails off because he's smiling at her and his eyes are shining. And she feels like she's some kind of angel with the way he's looking at her. She almost hugs him before she remembers the blood everywhere.

Instead, she takes the saw out of his hand and starts to wash it in the sink while she listens to Gale splash water on himself. A few minutes later she feels his presence behind her and turns to see him standing in a clean shirt.

"Catnip," his voice is hoarse and his eyes are still shining. "I-

She thinks he might just cry, and she knows he would hate for her to see that, so she flings her arms around his neck and buries her face in his chest. He squeezes her so tightly it almost hurts.

"Thank you," he whispers into her hair. "Thank you."

But his relief is short-lived. Gale has barely finished the tea and fruit, when Prim bursts into the kitchen and grabs his arm, telling him Thom's brother is having seizures and they need his help.

Prim is going to follow him in, but Katniss pulls her by the elbow and insists that she stay in the main room.

"The other patients need you,"Katniss tells her, but really she wants to keep her sister out of that room. If it's upsetting Gale like that, then it's nothing Prim should see.

Ten minutes later, Gale, Hazelle, and Mrs. Everdeen all come out of the room. Hazelle has tears running down her face and is leaning against Gale, who keeps blinking like he can't see what's in front of him. Katniss doesn't need to ask to know that Thom's brother is dead.


	5. Chapter 5

_I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season. I'm sorry I depressed you all with the previous chapter, but I'm glad you appreciated my writing. I think this one might be a bit less grim, though still not happy. _

_AmyLouise1993: Katniss and Gale don't exactly cuddle up in this chapter, though kinda close. I promise they will nap/sleep together eventually though. I feel like Katniss and Gale have to take their sweet time getting to that point, because they're not particularly in tune with their emotions. _

_Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed and followed the story._

* * *

The next few days pass in something of a blur for Katniss. Slowly, the miners start to leave their house, one way or another, and everyone is able to get more sleep. Katniss is too tired to even remember her dreams and she suspects that may be a good thing.

Even as the miners leave, grim news continues arriving. When the mine is cleared, they learn that Thom's father also died in the accident. To her own irritation, this news affects Katniss more than she'd care to admit. Maybe it's because she saw Thom's mother in hysterics when his brother died and she doesn't want to imagine what his mother must be like now. Katniss knows far too well what it's like to have no one to lean on when one parent dies.

As patients dwindle, Gale, Katniss, and Rory start putting the Everdeen's house back in order. Gale and Rory return the tables to their rightful owners. Katniss scrubs anything and everything. Their house starts to feel like a home, instead of an infirmary, and Katniss manages to wash some clothes for the first time in days.

When the last patient finally leaves, Mrs. Everdeen doesn't say a word to anyone. She just goes into her bedroom and shuts the door.

"I imagine she'll be out for awhile," Hazelle says. "She's barely slept in a week."

"Neither have you," Gale reminds her.

Hazelle shrugs, though dark circles have formed under her eyes. Katniss is about to say something, but she glances at Gale and knows she doesn't have to.

"Ma, you're going to bed too. Katniss and I have been getting more sleep, so we can fix some dinner and watch the kids for the night."

"There's hardly anything to have for dinner."

"We have a little tesserae and some jerky," Gale says.

"Enough?"

"For now. Besides, food won't magically appear if you refuse to go to sleep."

Gale has squared his shoulders, clenched his jaw, and folded his arms across his chest. Katniss recognizes these as the signs that Gale is digging in for a fight, and Hazelle probably does too. For a moment she looks to be on the verge of arguing, but perhaps she decides not to take on Gale at his most stubborn.

"Someone's getting bossy," she says with a smirk. "But, you're probably right."

She gets up, yawns, and stretches her arms over her head.

"I'll see you in a few hours, wake me if you need anything."

Everyone is so exhausted that it isn't too difficult to manage for the evening. Even Vick and Posy seem to have sensed that the crisis is over and let go of their nervous energy. They all have a meager meal and then settle themselves in blankets on the floor.

After a week of sleeping by themselves at random intervals, no one wants to be far apart. They end up in a line on the floor, with Katniss and Gale at each end and the children sandwiched between them. Katniss catches Gale's eyes before they fall asleep and she knows he takes the same comfort she does in their cozy sleeping arrangement. It's physical confirmation that the crisis is over and their families made it through in one piece. Katniss realizes that she and Gale couldn't have done it without each other, and she knows from looking at him that Gale knows it too.

* * *

When the Hawthornes leave the next morning, Katniss practically aches with the emptiness of her house. Her mother didn't even get up to see them off and Katniss feels her stomach twist as she wonders if her mother is sinking back into her depression again.

Over the next two weeks, her fears are confirmed. Mrs. Everdeen barely leaves her room, and when she does, she just sits and stares. At first, Katniss tries to be patient. After all, it had been traumatic for everyone and she doesn't want to upset Prim. So, she coaxes her mother to take what's left of the St. John's Wart, and forces her to eat and drink. Prim helps too, quietly sitting with her mother and talking, though Mrs. Everdeen doesn't so much as acknowledge her.

The fact that Prim is old enough to really understand this time only makes it worse. Katniss can't just say that 'mommy is sick,' because Prim knows exactly what this is and knows it can't be treated like a normal illness. It breaks Katniss' heart when Prim looks at her one day and says,

"I'm sorry you had to do this all by yourself last time. It's awful."

Instead of soothing Katniss, Prim's words only make her furious. Prim shouldn't know that this is awful. She certainly shouldn't go feeling bad for Katniss. But Prim's lower lip is trembling and so Katniss doesn't shout like she wants to. Instead, she just says,

"Come here, Little Duck."

Prim cries in her arms for a long time while Katniss seethes in anger. When Prim finally gets up and decides to make dinner, Katniss goes into her mother's room and loses it.

"You are _pathetic,_" she hisses as her mother stares vacantly at the ceiling. "You didn't even lose anybody this time, but you've started the whole damn grieving process all over again. Like you didn't do it enough the first time!"

She scoffs and glares at her mother. Mrs. Everdeen gives no sign that she's heard Katniss, and that just infuriates her further.

"Why do you have to be like this? Look at Hazelle, she lost her husband too! And she has sons that will have to go down there, down to the same place where her husband died, but she doesn't do this!_ She_ takes care of her family! Like moms are supposed to! Why the hell can't you be like her? Be a real fucking mother, you useless, pathetic, piece of-"

"Katniss!"

In her desire to get some reaction, _anythin_g, out of her mother, she had started shouting. Now Prim is standing at the doorway looking horrified.

"Stop it! Just stop it!"

Prim is crying all over again and Katniss feels like her insides have been ripped out.

"I'm sorry," she whispers. But Prim has slammed the door and literally run out of the house.

Katniss is about to follow her out when the smell of something burning hits her nostrils, reminding her of Prim's unfinished cooking. She removes it from the stove and turns it off. With the fire hazard now averted, Katniss sprints out to the front porch and looks around.

She scans for blonde pigtails and Prim's blue shirt, but sees no sign of her. Katniss can feel herself starting to panic. Where could she have gone? Perhaps to the Hawthornes?

Katniss doesn't let herself consider other possibilities as she tears through the Seam. If Prim is anywhere else, she isn't safe. And that thought makes Katniss sick to her stomach.

She arrives at the Hawthornes' door and pounds furiously. Rory answers and Katniss doesn't so much as say hello.

"Is Prim here?"

"No-

"Have you seen her?"

"No, what-

Katniss turns away from the door and surveys the Seam for signs of Prim. It's almost dark out and it isn't safe for Prim to be out right now. Katniss is so terrified she can barely think. Her breathing is short and shallow. Thoughts of terrible accidents befalling Prim are swirling around in her head.

"Catnip? What's going on?"

Katniss tries to answer Gale, but instead a choked sort of sob comes out.

"Catnip?"

"Prim's gone, and it's all my fault! If I hadn't lost my temper with mom, she wouldn't have left, and now she could be anywhere, and it's not safe and-

"Slow down, slow down," Gale puts his arms on hers and rubs gently around her shoulders. "Listen to me, you need calm down. We'll find Prim, but you need to tell me what's going on. Okay?"

Katniss hiccups and nods.

"Good. So when did she leave?"

"Probably twenty minutes ago."

"Did she say anything about where she was going?"

"No, she heard me yelling at my mom because-

"It doesn't matter. Point is, she didn't give you any idea of where she was headed, right?"

"Right."

"Okay," Gale's eyes dart back and forth for a moment before he speaks again. "So, we're going to split up. You start looking in town, I'll take the Seam. If you catch any of the Peacekeepers we know, tell them to keep an eye out for her. I'll do the same. "

Katniss nods and they take off in their opposite directions. A few Peacekeepers are patrolling, but she doesn't see them at the Hob so she doesn't trust them enough to enlist their help. Instead, she scours the town for Prim. She checks every alley and pokes in every shop, ignoring the stares she draws. When there is still no sign of Prim, she does a second round and even asks random people if they've seen a girl with blonde pigtails.

Katniss is about to turn and head home when a horrible idea strikes her. What if Prim is at the community home? She mentioned her best friend Thalia had been living there since her father died in the mining accident, could she have gone there to see her?

Katniss feels a fresh wave of panic wash over her at this idea. The community home is the last place Prim ought to go at night. The children and teenagers run wild due to insufficient supervision and Katniss has heard of horrible things happening to the children who can't defend themselves. There was, after all, a reason Katniss would rather take care of their mother and risk being caught for illegal poaching than end up there.

The community home is on the outskirts of the Seam and Katniss assumes Gale would check there. She also thinks Prim would know better than to go there of all places. But as she starts to return towards the Hawthornes, she can't ignore the nagging voice telling her that Prim could be there. And what if Gale doesn't check there? He said he'd look in the Seam, not around the Seam. And if Prim is there?

Katniss turns abruptly and starts running towards the community home. She's about a block away when she hears,

"Stop it! Leave him alone!"

The frantic cries are definitely Prim's and Katniss sprints down an alleyway in the direction of her voice. In the dingy light, she can just make out Prim and five boys, one of whom is standing between the other boys and Prim.

"Oh, is this your girlfriend, Hawthorne?"

"I said to leave her alone!"

"Get out of the way."

Katniss arrives just in time to see a teenage boy punch Rory Hawthorne in the jaw. Rory stumbles back and nearly collapses, and Katniss throws herself in front of him before his attacker can land a second blow.

"Oh, I'd hate to hit a girl."

The boy doesn't really sound like he'd have any such qualms, but he seems to be taking a moment to size Katniss up. He has dark grey eyes, a shaved head, and a crooked nose. Katniss suspects it's been broken in fights, and she doesn't like her odds against a boy her age who's also an experienced fighter. She feels no relief at having found Prim, only more panic because everything is just as bad as she imagined it could be.

"Take her home now," Katniss snaps at Rory.

He looks hesitantly at Katniss.

"_Now_!"

This is not time for him to worry about her. He needs to get Prim out of there, because if she's safe, then Katniss can deal with anything else. Rory has grabbed Prim's hand and moves to lead her away, but another boy steps forward and shoves Rory into a building wall.

Katniss pulls the boy off Rory and shoves him aside. Rory reaches out to Prim, but she has planted her feet and is looking at Katniss, who motions for them to leave.

"Not so fast, missy," the boy with the broken nose says, smirking at Katniss. "This kid here has been giving me grief. And that little brat over there thinks she's too good for the likes of us-

"That's because she is!" Rory snaps.

When the boy raises his fist, Katniss steps in front of Rory and feels pain radiate through her stomach. She doubles over and gasps, barely staying on her feet. Katniss had never been punched before, and she's surprised at just how painful it is. She can hear Prim shrieking and Rory lunges at one of the boys.

He hits the ground again moments later, clutching his head, and Katniss forgets that being punched again will hurt like hell. Instead, she turns towards the boy with the crooked nose and puts all her energy into re-breaking that stupid, ugly nose again.

She only gets one blow in before he yanks her arm and twists her onto the ground on her back. Katniss' wrist is throbbing and when she tries to get up, he goes to punch her again. Rory gets in his away, pulling his arm back and prompting him to stumble backwards.

"Will one of you take care of him?" the boy with the crooked nose says irritably. "For fuck's sake."

He shakes his head and glares back down at Katniss. She looks over at Rory, who is getting thrown against the wall by two of the other boys. Prim tries to pull one of the boys off and Katniss lunges towards them, trying to get there before one of them so much as touches her sister.

"I don't think so."

The boy with the crooked nose grabs her and literally slams her down onto the pavement. With the wind knocked out of her, Katniss struggles to breathe.

"You're a real fucking pain in the ass," the boy snaps.

Katniss moves to jump up again and he kicks her back onto the ground. She rolls out of his reach and manages to spring up before he can kick her again. But she's not sure being upright will do her much good, because he's already lunging towards her and she barely sidesteps another punch. She's beginning to panic, when she notices movement behind the boy.

What she sees is such a relief that she doesn't even mind the boy using her inattention to land a punch along her jaw. Gale Hawthorne is sprinting down the alleyway, and as the boy leans in to hit her again, Gale yanks his arm back and swings him into the wall with a sickening thud. He punches him once in the face and again in the stomach before the boy sinks to the ground and Gale turns his attention towards Rory and Prim.

Rory is getting a thorough beating from two of the boys, while the other holds a struggling Prim. Gale grabs one of the boys kicking Rory and throws him with such force that his feet actually left the ground. The boy who was holding Prim lets go of her and moves to help his friends fend off Gale.

Katniss rushes over to Rory, who is moaning and coughing. His face is covered with blood and Katniss can't tell if it's from his nose or his mouth.

"Come on, come on."

She drags him a few feet away, and she and Prim try to get him upright. They finally manage to get him leaning against a wall and Katniss looks up to see Gale dodging a punch from one of the three boys now surrounding him. Gale catches her eyes and she knows he wants them to leave, but she hesitates. The boy with the crooked nose is up again and he's advancing towards Gale.

"Leave!" Gale snaps at her. "I'm fine."

"I don't know Hawthorne," the boy with the crooked nose says. "Four on one is bad odds, even for you."

"Go fuck yourself, Henley," Gale roll his eyes and turns back to Katniss. "Come on Katniss, get the kids out of here!"

Katniss knows he's right. Rory and Prim need to get home, so she throws an arm around Rory and half drags him out of the alleyway with Prim. Getting home takes far longer than Katniss would like. Prim is crying and Rory can barely move. Katniss is still in a panic thinking about what might be happening to Gale. She doesn't doubt his ability to fight, she'd seen him get into a few scuffles at school, but he is outnumbered. She wasn't much help even before she left with Prim and Rory. She briefly considers getting peacekeepers, but brawling is a punishable offense and she doesn't want Gale ending up in trouble.

Katniss is still running through ideas when they reach the Hawthornes front steps and she gets Rory and Prim inside. She's about to shut the door behind them, when she sees a light flicker in the house across the street where Thom and his mother are living. Thom! Amazed she hadn't thought of him sooner, Katniss leaves Rory and Prim and dashes over to the house. She knocks on the door and prances on the balls of her feet until Thom opens it.

"Thom! I need your help. Gale's in a fight and he's outnumbered four to one and-

"Where?"

"Alley by the community house, I'll show you."

"No, you shouldn't be hanging around there. I know the area," he steps outside and closes his door behind him.

"But shouldn't I-

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

He gives Katniss a wave and takes off at a run. Deciding she's probably done the best she can for Gale, Katniss finally feels something like relief. But it fades quickly as she thinks about Prim and what might have happened before she got there. She goes back to the Hawthorne's and has barely stepped in the door when Hazelle says,

"Gale! What on earth is going-oh!"

She surveys Katniss and then says,

"They hit you too! I can't believe they would-never mind. Sit."

She gestures towards the kitchen table and Katniss obeys. Hazelle puts down the cloth she was using to scrub blood off Rory's face and rummages in the ice box. Prim takes over scrubbing and he winces as she gets close to his nose. Vick and Posy hover near the table, watching with fascination.

"Did you fight too?" Posy asks.

"A little."

"What on earth happened?" Hazelle asks. She presses a cold washcloth to Katniss' face.

"Some kids by the community home were picking on Prim and Rory. I tried to help, but they clearly wanted a fight. Gale showed up and he was able to get them off us, so I could get Prim and Rory home."

"So he's still there fighting?"

Katniss nods and Hazelle purses her lips.

"I sent Thom over to help him-

"Oh no!" Hazelle groans. "The two of them actually enjoy getting into scrapes together! Now you're just encouraging them."

"He was outnumbered, and at least one of the kids was my age. Someone named Henley."

Hazelle frowns.

"That boy is trouble," Katniss sees anxiety flash across Hazelle's face. "I wouldn't be surprised if he had a weapon, and if Gale's by himself…Maybe we should the peacekeepers...no, if they get involved there's no telling…"

Hazelle purses her lip and taps her foot for a moment.

"You said Thom's headed over, right?"

"He left the minute I told him."

"Then it should be fine."

But she's tense as she continues cleaning up Rory, and when the door opens she says his name like a prayer.

"_Gale._"

"Here, Ma," he mutters. He stumbles into the kitchen looking somewhat the worse for wear. Katniss can see his nose was bleeding, there's a cut on his forehead, and he has a nasty bruise forming around his cheekbone.

"Are you alright?" Hazelle asks, stepping away from Rory to survey her other son.

"I'm fine," Gale comes over and looks at Rory. "How's the little man?"

"Okay," Rory mumbles.

"What on earth happened?" Hazelle asks. "Katniss said people were picking on Prim and Rory, but what were you all doing out this late?"

There's a long pause, during which Rory and Gale avoid looking at Prim. Katniss is about to say something, when Prim whispers,

"They were looking for me. I-I got mad at Katniss and I left a-and Rory knows my friend Thalia lives in the community home, s-so he found me on my-my way there. These boys had stopped me a-and they said…they…"

Prim lets out a sniffle and Katniss jumps out of her chair to rub Prim's shoulders.

"At first they were kinda friendly, b-but then they wanted me to go w-with them and I said n-no and they got mad a-and one of them grabbed me, but then Rory came."

"Did any of them hurt you?" Gale's voice was sharp.

"N-no."

"Are you sure?"

Prim nods.

"Okay," Gale shakes his head and looks over at Hazelle for a moment.

"What about you, did you really have to start hitting people?" she asks him.

"I didn't start it," Gale snaps. "When I got there Rory was getting pummeled by two guys and another guy was taking a swing at Katniss. So yeah, I think I had to hit some people."

"He's right," Katniss assures Hazelle. "The fighting started before he got there. I don't think these guys would have left us alone if Gale had just asked nicely."

"Fine," Hazelle tells Gale. "You, at least, are out of trouble."

She inclines her head towards Rory and adds, "Should I talk to them or would you like to?"

"I will."

"Fine. Vick, Posy, we're going to bed."

Hazelle collects the younger children while Gale alternates between glaring at Rory and at Prim. He looks so severe that Katniss is almost scared for them. When Hazelle shuts the door behind her, he sits down across from Prim and Katniss.

"What the hell were you two thinking?" he asks, looking first at Rory and then at Prim.

"Prim needed help!" Rory said. "It's not my fault-

"It is you damn fault! You should never have gone over there. If you thought Prim was there, you should have told me or Katniss. Why didn't you?"

"I didn't think of it until after you left!"

"So why didn't you come find us?"

"I-I don't know," Rory mumbles and stares at the floor.

"That's not a good enough answer! You know better, Rory! You know the community home is dangerous, and you know not to go running around at night. But what do you do? You head to the most dangerous area _at night_! What the hell do you think would have happened if Katniss didn't get there? And what the hell do you think would have happened to her and Prim if I didn't show up?"

Gale waits for Rory's answer, but it never comes.

"What do you think guys like that would have done to two girls once they finished beating you up? Hm? And it's your fault Katniss was even over there. If you had come to us, I would have gone there instead. Prim would have been fine and Katniss would never have been anywhere near there! I don't know if you were trying to be a hero or just being thoughtless, but either way it was completely irresponsible. And it's nothing but good luck that kept it from being much worse."

Rory looks like he's on the verge of tears and Gale sits back in his chair for a moment.

"That said, good on you for sticking by Prim once you got there. That part, at least, was the right thing to do."

"He was really brave protecting me and Katniss," Prim whispers. "He pulled them off us, punched them, all that stuff."

Gale's mouth twitches towards a smile.

"Good," he says. "Make no mistake, I'm proud of what you did when you got there, Rory. It was the getting there that I'm unhappy about. Now go talk to Mom, she'll decide on your punishment."

Rory gets up from the table and heaves himself slowly towards the other room. Gale turns to Prim and Katniss catches his eye. She doesn't think Prim could take the kind of scolding Rory received, even if she does deserve some kind of reprimand. Gale meets Katniss' eyes and nods, before continuing.

"Now Primrose," he lowers his voice, but keeps the same sternness. "Look at what happened to everyone tonight. I don't think I have to tell you that none of this would have happened if you hadn't run away like that."

Prim's chin begins to quiver and Katniss feels an irrational urge to defend her sister's actions. She opens her mouth, but Gale meets her eyes and cuts her off.

"Next time you're upset with Katniss, you can come to our house. That way you, and everyone else, stay safe. Under no circumstances, should you run away and not tell anyone where you're going. There is no excuse for that, Prim. And the area around the community home is absolutely not safe. Your friend can come play at your house, but you should not ever, ever go over there. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes," Prim whispers.

"Good?" He raises his eyebrow at Katniss and she nods. "Okay then, I don't think we need to worry about this anymore. As long as it doesn't happen again, it's over in my book. Okay?"

Prim nods. Gale gets up, ruffles Prim's hair, and goes in to get Hazelle. Prim turns to Katniss and starts to cry.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Shhh, little duck, I know," Katniss says, gathering Prim up onto her lap. "I'm sorry too."

They sit for a moment before Hazelle, Gale and Rory come out.

"Why don't we fix something to eat since you all missed super," Hazelle says.

"Oh no," Katniss straightens up. "We've caused you enough trouble, we'll just go home and-

"Nope," Gale says. "If I take a punch for you, you have to keep me company during dinner. Come on, we want you to stay."

"But mom needs something," Prim whispers. Katniss almost scoffs at the thought of her mother lying in bed as all this happened to her daughters. But she manages to arrange her face into a neutral expression as she says,

"Our mother's not feeling well, and we should make her food."

She avoids Gale's eyes, but she can feel his gaze on her. He's probably been wondering what on earth prompted Prim to run away in the first place.

"We'll wrap something up for her," Hazelle says firmly. "Now Prim, would you help me chop some rosemary?"

Knowing there's no point in arguing, Katniss shrugs and Prim climbs off her lap to help Hazelle. Gale meets Katniss' eyes and they walk outside onto the Hawthorne's porch.

There's not much light beyond the glow coming from their windows and it's still too early in the spring for warm evenings. Katniss doesn't mind though, she's overwhelmed and could use the quiet of Gale's presence. He doesn't say a word, just stands beside her and waits for her to tell him how this all got started.

"My mom checked out again," she says eventually. "Just like she did when my father died. I lost my temper with her this afternoon and just…went off, I guess. Prim heard and got really upset with me. This is-this is so hard on her."

Gale doesn't reply, he just nods and puts his arm around her. Katniss finds herself leaning into him, soaking in the comfort of his presence. She thinks she might need this and it makes her nervous. She's relied on Gale for a long time, but only for certain things. Not for _feelings_. She hates that she even has those.

But Gale doesn't act like anything unusual is happening. He just stays there with her, occasionally rubbing her back.

"Have you found any more of the herbs?"

"No. We're almost out, but they don't seem to be doing any good any way."

"Should we take some time off to look for them?"

"No. We're still low on supplies because of the mining accident. And since the herbs seem to make no difference, I can't justify wasting our time on them."

"Okay. Let me know if you change your mind," he cocks his head to the side and looks down at her. "I've got your back, you know."

"I know."

But Katniss thinks the Hawthornes have already done too much for them. She just couldn't stand asking for anything else, even if she knew what to ask for.


	6. Chapter 6

_This chapter was tough to write because it's less action and more setting the stage for some exciting stuff in the next couple chapters. I also had to write it in between moving, yuck. So, I realize it may not be super exciting, but I promise you can get excited for Chapter 7. I'm certainly having fun writing it. _

_Mooglez: Your comment cracked me up. Gale in general makes my 'ovaries giddy' ;) Gale also screamed protector way better to me too. Katniss is so strong herself that not just any guy could offer her much by way of protection, but I figured she might be a little vulnerable if she was outnumbered and without her bow.  
_

_Thank you again everyone for reading and reviewing, especially Ellenka and bohobo because you always both write such lovely, thoughtful reviews. _

* * *

Two weeks later, Katniss and Gale are trying not to shiver as they wait for game to wander by a creek in the woods. It had snowed a few days earlier and Katniss is starting to wish the weather would hurry up and just transition to spring. She licks her lips and scolds herself for finishing off her water canteen half an hour earlier.

Noticing the gesture, Gale reaches into his hunting jacket and silently produces his own canteen. Katniss gives a smile of thanks, slips the lid off, and drinks gratefully.

As she's returning it to him, Gale jerks his head toward the creek. Not one, but two, large rabbits have approached the muddy banks. Gale grabs the canteen and sets it quietly on the ground, then he goes to ready his bow.

Katniss settles an arrow into her own bow, careful not let the wood of the arrow clank loudly against the bow. She stays still as she senses Gale ready himself to shoot. He'll take the rabbit on the left, since it's a bit clearer of a shot. He'll also shoot first, he always does. So Katniss waits, feeling his breath slow and his body become tensed and still.

Gale stops breathing and Katniss follows suit. A moment later, he shoots and she lets her own arrow fly just a split second after his. Both rabbits hit the banks with a thud.

They exchange smiles and make their way to the clearing around the creek. This is the last kill they need for the day and it was right in time. The sun is lowering in the sky and they'll have just enough time to check the snare line before it gets too dark.

Once they've retrieved their arrows, Katniss looks up at the sky and offers to start checking the southern end of the snare line. Most of Gale's simpler snares are in that area. He nods, throws the rabbits in his pack, and heads towards the other end of the line.

They meet in the middle and divide up the game. One of Gale's snares caught a raccoon, which they intend to give to Greasy Sae for one of her stews, so they make their way to the Hob and settle themselves on stools in front of her stall.

"What do you have for me today?" she asks them.

"Raccoon."

"Let's have a look."

She beckons them around behind the counter and Gale pulls out their kill.

"Not very big is it?"

Gale scoffs.

"It's bigger than most, and you know it, Sae," he tells her.

She shrugs.

"I don't know what size raccoons generally are, I just know how much stew it'll make. That won't give me more'n eight bowls."

"I bet you'll stretch it to ten," Katniss says. In fact, Sae will probably stretch the raccoon over twelve bowls, but Katniss knows she'd never admit to that.

"I'd like to, but there's just not enough meat."

They barter back and forth for a few minutes before Sae eventually agrees to pay them three coins and give them each a generous bowl of stew.

"How's your mother doing?" Sae asks Katniss, who nearly drops her spoon. What does Sae know about her mother?

Seeing her surprise, Sae continues,

"I heard a few people are coming down with coughs and fevers, and your sister was treatin 'em on account of your mother being ill herself."

"She's alright," Katniss shrugs. "Just worn down from the mining accident."

That's as close to the truth as Katniss feels like getting. Sae looks at her and nods. She probably knows that's only a half-truth, but Gale speaks up before she can ask anything else.

"People are getting sick? How many?"

"At least a dozen," Katniss says. "Three came to us for medicine just last night."

"From what I've heard, that's just the tip of the iceberg," Sae says. "The Collins and Harper kids got a cough, and I hear half the kids at the community home already got fevers."

"This is the last thing we need after a mining accident," Gale mutters.

"It's on account of the mining accident that it's happening," Sae tells him. "Less miners means more hungry families, which means more people whose bodies are too weak to fight illness. Live long enough and you'll notice these patterns."

"Great," Gale snorts.

As they finish their meal, Katniss forces herself to ignore the growing sense of foreboding she has at the idea of disease spreading around District 12. Her mother is still spending entire days lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, which leaves Prim to tend to the patients. And Katniss worries she might be getting overworked. But not matter what she says, Prim adamantly refuses to turn anyone away.

"Done Catnip?"

Gale's voice jars her out of her daze and she looks down at her empty bowl. She didn't even realize she'd finished. She nods at Gale and they say their goodbyes to Greasy Sae.

After they've walked a few yards from the Hob, Gale turns to her and says,

"How's your mom?"

"The same."

Gale's been asking this every few days and Katniss has been giving the same answer. She's sick of thinking about it. If he wouldn't keep bringing it up, then she could forget about it for just a few hours while they hunt together.

"Do you think maybe if we-

"Stop it, Gale. There's nothing we can do."

"That herb has to be somewhere, if we could-

"Just leave it!"

"I'm only trying to help! I think that if-

"Hey, Gale."

Katniss and Gale both look away from eachother and stare at the girl on the path in front of them. It's Maura Amesworth, a Seam girl who is the same age as Katniss. But unlike Katniss, Maura's father has managed to survive the mines and her mother works as a housekeeper for the mayor. Maura eats well and can afford decent clothes, which doesn't win her any friends among the rest of the girls in the Seam. Girls in town don't associate with her either because she's still Seam, even if she's rich Seam.

But what Maura doesn't have in female friends she makes up for in boyfriends. Because she's pretty and well-fed enough to look like a woman, she has her pick of any guy in the Seam. Gale went out with her for a bit, if gossip can be believed. Katniss never asked him about it, so she's not sure what happened between the two of them.

But Maura is standing in front of them now, not having so much as acknowledged Katniss. Instead she's looking at Gale and smiling tentatively.

"Hey Maura," Gale isn't smiling back, but he's not scowling like he was at Katniss a moment earlier.

"How've you been?"

"Not bad," he says with a shrug. "Yourself?"

"Not bad," she parrots his words back to him with a smirk. "How's your family?"

"Good."

"Always a man of many words. But really, Gale, how is everyone? Posy? The boys?"

"The boys are doing well in school. Posy's discovered hopscotch."

Maura laughs and Gale actually gives her a real smile. Katniss, who never had much of an opinion on Maura Amesworth before, suddenly finds her very irritating. Can't she find some other time to reconnect with him? Katniss would like to get home and she usually walks with Gale. She can't very well do that when he's in the middle of a conversation.

"My little brother still asks about you sometimes," Maura says. "He still has that wooden horse you whittled."

"Oren's a good kid. I hope he's doing well."

Gale smiles for a moment, but then the expression fades.

"How's Fitz?"

"I don't really know. We're not seeing eachother anymore."

"Interesting," Gale smirks. "Explains your sudden interest in Posy's welfare."

Maura's eyes flash.

"That's real nice Gale."

"Just telling it like it is."

Katniss bites back a smirk. Maybe Maura will get a hint and leave them alone now. Although, part of Katniss wouldn't mind if she stays now that the conversation has taken a more amusing turn.

"I like your family, Gale. Is that a crime? And I…I missed you."

Gale raises his eyebrows.

"You met my family once. And I don't know what exactly you missed about me. If I recall right, the last time we spoke you said I didn't make any time for you, and I wasn't good for anything except fu-

"Shut up," Maura hisses.

Katniss isn't exactly sure what he was going to say, but she could take a fairly good guess. It's not something she particularly wants to think about and she finds herself wanting Maura to leave again.

"I shouldn't have said that," Maura says. "And there's no point repeating it now."

"Fine," Gale shrugs. "What exactly is it you want here, Maura?"

"To talk to you."

"I'm listening."

Maura looks over at Katniss and scoffs.

"Gale, I want to have a _personal_ conversation."

"Okay, so what do you want to talk about?"

Maura makes another exasperated noise, but when Gale doesn't budge she says,

"I wanted to talk about us, what we had."

"You didn't seem to particularly care for it."

"I did care for it."

"You had a funny way of showing it. You only wanted to do two things, yell at me and…" Gale trails off and shrugs.

Katniss is practically itching with discomfort. She definitely should not be witnessing this, but no one has asked her to leave and she finds a sort of perverse curiosity has rooted her to the spot.

"I liked you, but you always had one foot out the door, so I was upset."

"I told you from the beginning that I had responsibilities. That I didn't have time for some big, fairy-tale romance."

"I know that's the reason you gave. And I also know the reason you didn't give."

Maura jerks her head over at Katniss, who no longer feels like a spectator. Suddenly, she is aware of just how much she doesn't belong here, in this conversation, in this part of Gale's life. She ought to have just left without him. Rectifying her mistake, she turns and walks away without a word to either of them.

Behind her, she can hear Gale yelling at Maura, asking her "what the hell that was all about." Then Katniss hears his footsteps jogging towards her.

"Gale! Wait! I'm sorry!"

The footsteps stop.

"Can we just-just talk about this another time?" Suddenly, Maura's voice is sweet, sad and a little helpless. Katniss hears Gale sigh.

"When?"

"Tomorrow at lunch."

"Okay," he sighs again.

Katniss quickens her pace, her anger growing with each step. She tries to suppress the emotion, because there isn't anything she should be angry about. It doesn't matter if Maura was a little rude, and it certainly doesn't matter what she thinks about Katniss and Gale. As far as Katniss can tell, there is just no real reason to care about this conversation at all.

But no matter what she tells herself, Katniss is horribly uncomfortable and inexplicably furious. Why did they have to rehash an old romance in front of her? She shouldn't have to hear about Gale screwing some girl. That was just infuriating-or awkward-just awkward. Nothing else, definitely nothing else.

"Catnip!" Gale is beside her, taking quick, long strides to match her pace. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Katniss keeps walking. She's trying to sort that out. She ought to be mildly annoyed, not furious.

"I'm sick of this Gale!"

"Sick of what?"

"Being thrown in the middle of your relationships with these stupid girls!"

"I know. You're absolutely right."

Katniss stops walking. Is she right? Even if she is, is that why she's upset? Gale steps in front of her and meets her eyes.

"You're absolutely right," he says again. "And I'm sorry. That's part of why I agreed to talk to her tomorrow. To set her straight about us and make sure she knows to leave you the hell out of things."

"And what's the other part?" The words are out of her mouth before she can think them through.

"Huh?"

"Nevermind."

"No, what? The other part of what?"

Gale is all repentance and earnest curiosity and Katniss can't meet his eyes. It's not any of her business why he's going to talk to this girl at lunch tomorrow. She doesn't even really care. She's not sure why she even asked. She's certainly not going to repeat the question.

"Do you mean the other part of why I'm meeting her for lunch tomorrow?"

Katniss thinks that maybe Gale can read her too well.

"It doesn't matter, forget it," she says.

"No," he sighs and looks up at the sky for a moment. "Maura was my first real girlfriend…or the closest I ever had to one. She at least tried to have a relationship with me. Anyway, it ended in one big blowup and I probably owe her a real conversation about it."

He trails off and frowns at the sun setting low in the sky. Katniss is torn between wanting to hear more and wishing she had never asked. She definitely doesn't want to hear Gale talk about Maura like she might actually mean something, but there are so many unanswered questions. What does he mean by "real relationship?" It hadn't sounded like much of a relationship. And what went wrong? And does he want to get back together with her? Is that really why's he going to talk to her?

Katniss bites on her lip and swallows her questions. She's too nervous to ask any of them, but Gale must see her apprehension.

"Catnip, I'm not going to let her bother you. Tomorrow, I'll make it _very_ clear that she's got no business giving you trouble. There's not going to be another Tia Hemlock incident. I promise."

Katniss knows she's supposed to be satisfied and forces a smile.

They walk the rest of the way towards the Seam in silence. Normally, she'd welcome the silence they share, but now she's agitated. Gale offers no distraction from her thoughts, as he's clearly wrapped up in his own. Instead, Katniss tries to figure out why the thought of Gale talking to Maura Amesworth makes her stomach drop and why she's suddenly so curious about Gale's past relationships.

She doesn't have any answers when Gale gives her a wave and turns off towards his house. The whole situation nags at her mind the rest of the evening and she sleeps fitfully.

Worse still, she finds herself stealing glances at Gale and Maura during lunch the next day. At first, she's somewhat satisfied with what she sees. Gale is as stern as she's ever seen him and Maura just sits with her arms crossed, glaring at him. But somehow things shift. Maura starts speaking, and she sees Gale relax his shoulders and let the tension leave his body. And soon Maura's giving him a small smile, and then he's smiling too, and they end up walking back from lunch together.

It takes all Katniss' self control not to ask about it during their next few hunting trips. But the thought of Gale realizing just how strange she's being is enough to keep Katniss quiet.

A few days later, her questions are answered, or at least as much as she wants them to be. On Monday, the school is abuzz with talk about Gale and Maura messing around at the slag heap on Saturday night.

'So much for having his fill of it,' Katniss thinks as she goes to collect Prim after school. 'He didn't even make it two months without screwing around.'

She taps her foot outside Prim's classroom, hoping her sister will hurry up and collect her things so Katniss won't have to hear any more speculation about the status of Gale and Maura's relationship.

Everyone except Prim seems to have left the classroom and finally Katniss shoves the door open to hurry her sister along. But when she gets into the classroom, all thoughts of Gale at the slag heap vanish from her mind. Prim is still sitting at her desk, clutching the edge of it for support, as she succumbs to a violent coughing fit.


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks again for all your reviews! I'm going to post a real author's note at the bottom, so you can read it there if you feel so inclined._

* * *

Katniss tries to keep her panic at bay as she waits for Prim to stop coughing. She helps her sister stand and then guides her towards the drinking fountain. When Prim is finished drinking, Katniss makes her take a few more sips before they set off towards home. During their walk, she tries to ascertain just how sick Prim really is.

"How long have you been coughing like this?"

"A little bit yesterday, but it didn't get bad until today."

"Okay," Katniss considers this information. She tightens her grip on Prim's shoulder, steering them more quickly towards home. "You need to rest, no more seeing patients."

"Katniss, it's just a cough. I'll-

"_No_."

Prim startles and Katniss knows she was probably too stern, but she can't let her sister even think about treating anyone else.

"_You_ are going to be your only patient. You can worry about everyone else when you get better."

"Katniss, people are really sick! They have fevers and-

"Which is exactly what you'll get if you don't rest! This isn't up for discussion."

It was a phrase she'd heard from Hazelle Hawthorne on more than one occasion, and she hoped it sounded as final coming from her as it did from Hazelle. It must carry some weight because Prim just frowns and sighs.

"How have you been treating the cough?" Katniss asks her.

"Lots of fluids, hyssop tea with mullein, and a poultice with eucalyptus and anise oil."

Katniss starts preparing the treatments the moment they get home. She puts Prim to bed with a glass of water and starts on the tea first. When it's ready, she delivers it to Prim and prepares the herb poultice.

"I know it's probably not as good as yours, but it should work," Katniss says as she applies the treatment to Prim's chest.

"You did it pretty well," Prim says with a smile. "But you're overreacting, I'm really not that sick."

Katniss hopes her sister's right.

"I'm not taking any chances. Now sleep."

Satisfied that Prim is well situated for the time being, Katniss hurries to meet Gale for hunting. She's late, but he'll more than understand the delay. As she walks briskly towards the fence, Katniss tries not to think about Prim. There's no reason to worry…yet. A cough is manageable, but the possibility of a fever scares her. More than ever, she wishes her mother could pull herself together. If this had happened before the mining accident, Katniss would have been much less worried.

She crosses the fence, retrieves her bow, and makes her way towards their rock. When she gets there, Gale is already standing up and coming toward her. Katniss takes a deep breath and tries to banish her worries so she can give her full concentration to the task at hand.

But she must not succeed, because Gale looks her over and says,

"What's the matter?"

"Prim has a cough. I just finished making her tea and stuff."

"Is it bad?"

"I'm not sure. She says it's not, but it sounds bad."

Gale frowns for a moment, then says,

"And your mom?"

"The same, Gale. She's always the same."

"You sure you don't want to look for her herbs?"

"I'm sure."

"It might help. She could treat Prim better -

"What will help Prim is getting this done quickly so I can get back to her!" Katniss snaps. "So, let's go."

Gale scowls, but he nods and they head out into the woods. If he's angry with her for snapping at him, he doesn't show it. They cooperate as seamlessly as ever and catch plenty. On the way to the Hob, he's more talkative than usual, telling her about Rory's crush on an older girl at school. Katniss is grateful for the distraction and asks Gale for details she would normally have considered unimportant.

At the Hob, Gale quickly becomes all business and takes over much of the trading from Katniss. He seems determined to get just a bit more than usual from their customers. When Greasy Sae says he's asking for more than normal for a rabbit, Gale tells her that her memory is failing her and this is one of the plumpest rabbits they've caught in ages. Now Katniss knows he's up to something, because that just isn't true. But he manages to squeeze an extra coin out of Sae and they leave the Hob richer than Katniss expected.

Just before she begins to turn off the path towards her home, Gale says,

"Wait, Catnip."

He runs a hand through his hair, then shifts his weight between his feet.

"My mom is making this big stew, and uhm, I was thinking that you could get a bowl of it to bring back to your family-

"I don't need a handout, Gale," she snaps. She's fed her family for years, does he think she suddenly stopped being capable of it just because Prim has a cough?

"It's not a handout! It's just that I know Prim usually cooks, and you hate it."

As usual, she can't fault his logic. She wasn't looking forward to cooking at all, but she's not taking his family's food.

"It still sounds like a handout to me, Gale."

He sighs in exasperation and shakes his head.

"Then give me an extra squirrel or something. Will that make it alright with you?"

Katniss considers this for a moment. That would pay for the stew itself, but not for Hazelle's labor.

"Come on Catnip, what's the problem here? We always look out for each other."

"You don't always give me free food."

"It's not like that. It's a special circumstance because Prim's sick," he says. "Remember when Posy got sick last winter and you gave us those herbs? This is the same kind of thing."

"You gave me extra meat in exchange."

"So give me a squirrel. Isn't your time better spent looking after Prim than cooking?"

He's played his trump card and Katniss feels herself beginning to relent. As long as she gives him an extra squirrel it won't be so bad. It won't really be a handout.

"Okay," she says finally.

Gale smiles and they make their way back to his house. When they get inside, Posy rushes to greet them and launches herself onto Gale's leg.

"Gaaallllle," she says. "Vick is being mean! He's not sharing!"

Gale scoops her up and she latches onto his chest. He catches Katniss' eyes and rolls his own at Posy. But he's smiling and Katniss can tell he's not really that exasperated.

"Vick! Is there a reason you can't share with your baby sister?" Gale asks, as he walks into the living room and beckons Katniss in after him.

"Yeah! She broke my train!"

Vick appears holding a train with only three wheels. Katniss recognizes the toy. Gale spent months working on it before Vick's last birthday.

"I dinnit mean too! It was a accident!"

"I told you to be more careful, but you kept slamming it into the wall!" Vick shouts back. His cheeks are getting red and his eyes are welling up as he looks at his toy.

"Okay, okay," Gale says. "Hold on just one second and we'll get this sorted out. Hey, Rory! Can you get out here?"

Rory comes out from a bedroom and starts to say something about studying.

"I know, I know. Test tomorrow," Gale cuts him off. "Can you just go tell Mom to fill up a bowl with stew for the Everdeens? That's all I need you to do."

"Sure," Rory looks up at Katniss and waves a hello. She waves back and he disappears into the kitchen.

"Alright," Gale turns back to Posy and Vick. "Is he telling the truth, Posy? Were you slamming the train into the wall?"

"No, I-

"Don't lie to me, Pose."

"Yes," she mumbles and then buries her face into Gale's shirt.

"Okay," Gale sighs. "Now, Posy, you have to be extra careful with other people's toys. If Vick says not to slam the train into the wall, you have to listen. You're going to have to play with just your doll for the next two days, then you can try to play with Vick's toys again."

Posy looks like she's about to protest.

"Don't make that face. I'm not changing my mind, no matter how much you cry. But if you put on a happy face, like a big girl, I'll play Carl the Dog with you tonight."

Posy nods and he sets her down. She stumbles back towards the living room and Katniss turns to Gale,

"Carl the dog?"

He chuckles.

"It came from one of my dad's old books. It's about a dog named Carl who took a girl on adventures through her town. The whole game is me being Carl and crawling around on the ground while Posy rides on my back. She's pretty thrilled by it."

The image gets a smile out of Katniss. Gale just shakes his head and sighs.

"The things I do for that girl," he says. "Now Vick, let's see that train."

Vick hands it to him and Gale turns it over in his hands.

"Where's the fourth wheel?"

"Here," Vick hands it to him.

Gale studies it for a moment.

"I can fix this. I'll try to get it done tomorrow night, okay buddy?"

Vick nods.

"See, no harm done."

He claps Vick on the shoulder as the boy heads back into the living room.

"Sorry about all that," he tells Katniss. "They make trouble if someone isn't watching them every damn second."

"Don't worry about it," she says. She doesn't mind their bickering. Homes are supposed to be full of bickering children, not silent like her own house. Gale gestures to the couch and they sit down and wait for Hazelle. She arrives a few minutes later with a bowl in her hand.

"Katniss!" she opens up her free arm and offers Katniss a one-armed hug. "How are you, dear?"

"Fine."

"How's your mother?"

"Uhm…"

"Her mom's still not feeling well," Gale answers for her. Hazelle draws her brows together, but all she says is,

"Oh dear, well, send her our best."

"I will, thank your for the soup."

"Any time."

They say their goodbye and Gale walks her out to the porch. She hands him a squirrel from her pack and he nods. She's halfway down his walk, when he calls her name.

"Catnip! Just-just let me know if you and Prim need anything, okay?"

"Sure Gale."

She gives him a wave and takes off back towards her house.

* * *

During the next few days, Katniss is glad for Hazelle's stew. She's busy enough without having to cook. She spends every free moment forcing tea down Prim's throat and making herb poultices to put on her sister's chest. But despite her best efforts, Prim's cough only worsens. It keeps them both awake at night and Katniss can feel her anxiety build each time her sister coughs. Eventually, Prim's chest and throat get so sore that she complains it hurts to eat, and Katniss has a harder and harder time forcing food down her.

Despite all that, Prim still insists she's fine. She ignores Katniss protests and goes to school, and she even tries to treat patients who show up with fevers. That's where Katniss steps in, telling them that Prim is sick and shooing them out of the house. She doesn't like turning them away, but her guilt fades when she hears Prim's deep, hacking cough.

It's on the fourth day that Prim is so tired from coughing all night that she finally agrees to stay home. Even though Katniss is finally getting her way, it's of no comfort to her. It just means that even Prim knows she's no longer fine. Katniss is reluctant to leave her for school, but attendance is mandatory and she has to explain Prim's absence.

She also doesn't want to leave Prim to hunt for the afternoon, but they need to eat. They could probably afford to skip a day because she and Gale have been doing so well lately, but Katniss doesn't want to take any chances. So she meets Gale and they hunt as usual. He doesn't ask how Prim is doing, but he doesn't need to. He knows she wasn't at school and he can read Katniss well enough to sense her growing apprehension.

At the Hob, he is even more aggressive with trades than he'd been the previous few days. Katniss thought she had noticed a difference in his bargaining, but today's trading confirms she's not imagining it.

"You drove some hard bargains," she tells him as they leave the Hob. "I think Sae was a little put out."

He shrugs.

"We need to be prepared. With Prim being sick, it won't hurt to have a little extra on hand."

Katniss knows he's right, but she feels a sort of irritability when he says it. She's can't explain the emotion, she only knows his worrying on her behalf is grating on her nerves.

On the way home they don't speak much. Katniss is sullen and Gale doesn't try to force anything. But before she turns off towards her house, Gale stops her and tells her to follow him back to his place.

"My mom made more stew," he says as they walk. "She wants you to have it since she knows your mom is still sick."

"Gale!" Katniss stops walking. "I'm not taking your food!"

"I know!" He rolls his eyes at her. "You can give me extra meat again."

The idea does sound appealing. She wants to think that if she gives him a squirrel, they'll still be even, but she doesn't really think so. A voice in her head reminds her that ever since the mining accident, she's just been getting deeper and deeper into Gale's debt. Not with anything tangible, but with all kinds of intangible things. The comfort of his presence, the quick embraces, his help the night Prim ran away. Before, they always had an equal partnership, but Katniss feels like the balance has been upset lately because she's not pulling her weight.

But she doesn't know how to begin to voice all this. Gale takes her silence for consent and goes to get the stew. He appears moments later, offering a bowl of stew in one hand while holding his other out for a squirrel. She sighs exasperatedly, but complies with the exchange.

"Alright," he says. "So, I was thinking, I know we don't usually hunt on Friday afternoons, but we should probably go tomorrow."

Katniss scowls. They don't really need to go. Due to Gale's aggressive bargaining, they have plenty of food and some extra coins. The only reason they would need to go is if they assume Prim will get sicker and Katniss will have to miss future hunting trips. She might have been assuming as much herself, but for some reason it bothers her that Gale was thinking it too. It's not his problem, not his responsibility to think about it.

"We're not going tomorrow," she says. "We've got plenty and I would rather keep an eye on Prim."

"Okay. I'll go and bring back your cut."

"I don't get a cut if I don't go with you."

Gale scowls.

"Yes you do, we always split the kills."

"Yeah, because we hunt together."

"Come on Katniss, I don't mind splitting it."

"Well, I mind! That's not how we do things, Gale. I'm not your damn charity case! I've fed my family for years, whether or not they were sick. I don't need you to hunt for me!"

"It's not charity! How many times do I have to tell you that? We're not keeping score here!"

"It doesn't matter what you call it, Gale. I'm not taking your kills! So, don't go tomorrow. Or if you do go, keep the meat yourself. _I'm_ not taking it!"

"And what if I bring it to you anyway?"

"I'll let it rot on my damn doorstep!"

"Fine! Then forget tomorrow."

He goes inside and slams the door loudly behind him. Katniss storms off to her house. She's positively seething the entire walk home and she slams her own door shut just as furiously as Gale slammed his. She manages to stay angry until she gets into her bedroom and finds Prim curled up on her side, shivering with a fever.

* * *

Katniss doesn't sleep at all that night. She frantically makes every tea and herb mixture she knows for fevers and gives them to Prim throughout the night. But none of it seems to make any difference. Prim continues to shiver even as she stays hot to the touch.

It's near dawn when Katniss realizes they've run out of yarrow to treat the fever. She feels herself on the verge of tears and tosses the jar down furiously. She has to pull herself together. Yarrow grows outside the fence, she'll get more on Saturday and everything will be fine. Or it least it will be fine if she doesn't let her emotions get the better of her. She's got no business crying over nothing, she has to keep it together.

Katniss pulls out the plant book and searches for alternative herbs to use. Her head is pounding and she has to read the same sentences over and over again so the words sink in. Finally, she decides on willowbark tea, though they hardly have any willowbark left. She brews Prim a cup and goes into her room to give it to her.

"Hey, Little Duck," Katniss rubs her sister gently. "Wake up, wake up. You need to drink this."

Prim stirs and tries to roll away. Her blonde hair is damp and stuck to her face. Katniss shakes her and Prim whimpers.

"Come on baby," Katniss says. Prim opens her eyes and moves her hand to shield them from the light. She moans and starts to mumble a protest, but eventually Katniss manages to get her upright. She brings the cup to her sister's lips and Prim takes a few sips before she turns her head away.

"No you need to finish this," Katniss tells her. "Come on, keep drinking."

It takes a long time, but eventually she manages to get Prim to drink the entire cup of tea. The sun has risen and Katniss considers whether she ought to go to school. If she misses school, teachers will ask why her mother isn't taking care of Prim instead of Katniss. She doesn't want to draw extra attention to her mother's condition and Prim's fever has remained constant, so Katniss decides to show up at school and cut out early.

The morning seems even longer than usual. Katniss always has a hard time concentrating on coal production, but today that task is downright impossible. She fidgets at her desk and scratches the peeling wood with her nails instead of taking notes. Finally, when most of the students head to the cafeteria for lunch, Katniss starts to sneak away. She's a few feet from the door when a familiar hand touches her shoulder.

"Are you leaving?"

Katniss turns to face Gale, who looks at the door and then back over at her. He looks her up and down, taking in her unwashed clothes and unkempt hair. She doesn't bother trying to erase the apprehension from her features, Gale will see it regardless. Instead, she tries to resist the completely ridicules urge to fling herself into his arms. Wasn't she irritated at him just last night? But she can't find it in herself to stay angry at Gale, that's just way too much energy right now.

But even though she's no longer angry, she still doesn't like the strong urge she feels to hug him. When did she start doing that anyway? Whenever it was, she's beginning to regret it. Maybe if they had never hugged in the first place, she wouldn't find herself wanting to do more of it.

"Catnip-

"Gale, are you coming?"

Maura Amesworth is standing a bit up the hall, leaning against a locker and tapping her foot. Katniss can sense her irritation, but couldn't care less. Gale doesn't so much as glance back at her.

"I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

He doesn't wait for Maura to reply before he says,

"Is Prim getting worse?"

"She's got a fever."

Gale swallows.

"Okay, okay. Uh…let's see…you've got herbs for that, right?"

"I'm trying them. We're running low though."

Gale runs a hand through his hair and glances back and forth as he thinks.

"Okay," he says again. "How about tomorrow morning I'll hunt and you get the herbs?"

"Will you be able to get enough food on your own? Maybe we should go tonight."

"You should stay with Prim. We're fine for food, you guys are too, right?"

It's a stupid question. Of course they're fine, they've been eating _his_ food, cooked by _his_ mother. But Katniss doesn't feel like being snarky, so she just nods.

"Okay, that's decided then. I'll see you first thing tomorrow."

"Okay."

Katniss makes a conscious effort to keep her voice steady. Gale didn't say anything sad, so there's no reason for her throat to close up at this particular moment.

"Hey now, it's going to be alright."

Gale draws her into his arms.

"Kids get sick and then get better all the time. The ones that don't are usually malnourished. But you've taken good care of Prim, so she's going to be fine."

He keeps one arm around her waist and runs his other hand through her hair, working out the tangles so gently she barely feels the pull. Katniss burrows her head into his chest, finding it's just as comforting as she imagined it would be. It's only over the last few weeks that she's discovered just how nice this spot is. It's warm, firm-but not too firm, and smells like some combination of pine, orange, and something she can identify only as Gale.

He keeps rubbing her back and smoothing her hair for a few more seconds before she remembers where they are. This is school, not their homes, not the woods. She can barely stomach letting Gale see her moment of weakness, she certainly doesn't want anyone else to witness it.

"Okay," she says. "I'm going to head home now."

He lets her go, but before she turns away, he touches the bottom of her chin and nudges her face upward so she meets his eyes. They're piercing, staring intently at her and conveying as much gravity as she's ever seen in them.

"Listen to me, Katniss. We have each other's backs. That's what we do. So, come to me if you and Prim need anything, okay?"

"Okay."

And she means it this time. She almost understands that Gale doesn't see it as charity. But more importantly, she's getting too desperate to refuse his help.

* * *

_Okay, so I'm sorry I'm still leaving you hanging about Prim. I didn't mean to stretch that over two chapters, but this chapter just grew on me. I promise you'll find out what happens to Prim in the next chapter. I hope you all are still enjoying the story, and thanks again for reading it. _


	8. Chapter 8

_Alright, so this is a long one. I hope you guys don't mind more section breaks than usual, but I didn't want to split it into two chapters. Thank you again for all your kind reviews. I get so excited whenever I see them. I'm glad you're liking the development between Katniss and Gale. __  
_

_Oh, and GaleLuver27 (and anyone else who might have been wondering): No no, Prim is not pregnant. Sick, but not pregnant. Rory, and then Katniss, and then Gale all came to her rescue that night in the alleyway, so she ended up the least hurt of anyone. She's got quite a team of people watching out for her :)  
_

_bohobo: I miss your reviews, they were awesome. I hope I didn't lose you.  
_

_Anyway, thanks again for your feedback, and enjoy!  
_

* * *

When Katniss arrives home again, her desperation reaches new heights. Though she can't feel a difference in Prim's temperature, Katniss knows her fever must have gone up because Prim is hallucinating. Every time Katniss tries to get her to drink something, Prim calls her 'mother' and says she'll drink more after supper.

Maybe it's because of what Prim's saying, but Katniss can't resist going in to see their mother after Prim finishes her tea. Maybe, just maybe, if she hears about Prim her mother will come back to them.

Katniss hates that she feels something like hope as she shakily opens her mother's door. She starts coughing as she shuts the door behind her, but though her mother can surely hear, she takes no notice. Katniss comes and sits at the edge of her bed.

"Wake up."

Katniss coughs again as she nudges her mother. Mrs. Everdeen opens her eyes and frowns.

"Mom, you have to get out of bed, please," Katniss whispers. "Prim is sick and you have to take care of her."

Mrs. Everdeen blinks and Katniss waits for a moment, watching to see if her eyes will show any sign of recognition. When nothing happens, Katniss tries again. She describes Prim's symptoms and tells her mother how worried she's getting. She can feel the words getting caught in her throat as she tells her mother that she needs her. That Prim needs her.

But her mother doesn't respond. Instead, she rolls away from Katniss, turning her face towards the wall and curling her knees into her chest. Katniss feels her desperation growing, pressing on her chest like it's going to crush her if she doesn't do something.

"Stop it!" she tries to pull her mother towards her. "Don't you turn away! We need you! Your children need their mother, need _you_!"

Mrs. Everdeen flinches and whimpers.

"Oh _come on_!" Katniss feels the disgust seep into her. "You-you, _argh_! I can't fucking believe you! I can't-I can't-Prim is sick! Get out of bed! Be a mother!"

Katniss' throat goes hoarse and she starts coughing again. This time the cough seems to reach deep into her chest and she sinks down on the edge of the bed to ride out the coughing fit.

When it's over, Mrs. Everdeen peers at her daughter for a moment, looking right at Katniss, but through her at the same time. When her mother rolls away from her again, Katniss feels something inside her snap. She doesn't even care any more. Doesn't care that her mother isn't helping. Doesn't care that she's curled up like her daughter's very presence is terrifying. It just doesn't matter anymore. Nothing that woman does matters. And Katniss doesn't even feel bad for thinking it might never matter again.

She gives her mother one last look of disgust, before she forces herself up from the bed and goes to make Prim another cup of tea.

But when she goes to help her sister drink it, Prim resists. She jerks her head away and lets it loll to the side so the tea spills down her chin. Katniss puts her hand on her sister's forehead and is sure it's getting even hotter.

"Prim, you need to drink this, please," Katniss begs. But nothing she says does any good. Prim doesn't seem to wake up fully enough to drink, and Katniss finds herself wishing she would start hallucinating again. At least then Katniss might be able convince her it's supper time and she needs to wash down food with a drink.

After her best efforts prove futile, Katniss goes into the kitchen and grips the counter as tears prick at the back of her eyes. They're out of yarrow and Prim spilled half the willow bark tea. She's going to need more herbs just to get through the night. If Prim is this bad with herbs, Katniss doesn't want to imagine what would happen if she went without them through the night.

But she does imagine it, she can't help it. It's too frighteningly compelling. Her mind creates images of Prim getting sicker and sicker, and finally dying during the night. Katniss gets light-headed and can barely breathe. It takes her a moment to remember it hasn't happened yet. She can still do something. She's just got to get more of those herbs.

It will take at least an hour and half to get them, and the thought of leaving Prim that long makes it difficult for Katniss to breathe. So, she puts on her jacket and leaves for the Hawthornes, because at this point she is way past worrying if she owes Gale.

But when she arrives at his house, Rory answers the door and says Gale is out. When he shuts the door, Katniss stands in the Hawthornes yard for a moment trying not to scream. They shouldn't have waited until the next morning to get the herbs. She assumed Prim's fever would be relatively steady for at least a day. But she was wrong and she hates herself for it.

She'll have to leave Prim to get the herbs, and she'll have to leave soon. It won't be long before it gets dark and finding the herbs will be next to impossible. She ought to look in on Prim once more before she goes, so she starts jogging towards her house.

She's halfway there when she sees Gale. He's walking down the path with Maura Amesworth, and he frowns and squints in her direction.

"Gale!" She's a little ashamed at how panicky her voice sounds, but it gets Gale moving. He's beside her in seconds.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm out of herbs," Katniss says. "Prim isn't going to make it through the night if I don't get them and-

She starts coughing again and Gale tenses.

"You're coughing."

"No," she tries to get the words out between coughs. "I…I'm…just-just…upset."

Gale puts an arm on her back and steers them toward her house. When her coughing stops, Katniss begins speaking again.

"Gale, I need to get these herbs. But I can't leave Prim, she's too sick. She's hallucinating, and if I stop giving her medicine-

"I'll get the herbs. Which ones do you need?"

"Yarrow and willow bark. Do you know what they look like?"

"I think so, but I better take a look at the plant book."

"Gale?" Maura has jogged up behind them. "What are you doing?"

"I have to take care of some things for Katniss tonight," he tells her.

"But we were going to hang out."

"I know, but Katniss needs me."

They have all come to a stop outside the Everdeen's front porch. Maura glares at Katniss, who doesn't bother returning her gaze.

"You're ditching me for her?"

Katniss fights the urge to just yank Gale by the arm and pull him inside to get the plant book. She really, really doesn't have time for this. Thankfully, Gale clearly feels the same.

"Don't start this right now," he snaps. "I'll come by your house tomorrow and explain."

"Seriously!" Maura's voice reaches something like a shriek. "You can't just-

"Let's get the book."

Gale opens Katniss' front door and guides her inside. Katniss grabs the book from the kitchen counter and flips to the pages with yarrow and willow bark. Gale glances back at the sky.

"I'm going to take these pages. It's getting darker and I don't want to screw this up."

Katniss nods and he tears the pages out of the book.

"Is it going to be too dark?" she asks him.

"Give me a candle and a few matches."

Katniss opens a cabinet and fishes around for what she needs. Gale surveys the kitchen and living room, which are a mess of dirty dishes, used rags, and jars of herbs. Katniss finds the candle and matches, and hands them to Gale.

"I'll be back soon," he tells her. Katniss looks at the sun setting.

"Be careful," she says as she opens the door to let him out.

"I'll be fine."

Gale walks out the door and straight into Maura.

"Gale-

"I have to go. We'll talk about it later, but this is an emergency."

Maura grabs his shirt and tries to yank him back towards her.

"So you can't even explain why, or where you're going, or -

"Enough!" Gale jerks his arm away and glares at Maura. His hands are balled into fists and Katniss can see his jaw work as he grits his teeth. "I don't have time for this bullshit, now _go the fuck home_!"

Katniss feels her jaw drop and Maura actually flinches, but Gale is already jogging out of the yard. So Maura turns to Katniss, who decides to preempt the impending argument by shutting the door in her face.

Katniss hears knocking behind her, but she has no trouble putting Maura out of her mind. She goes immediately to her bedroom to monitor Prim.

"Hang in there, Little Duck," Katniss whispers. She brushes a strand of hair off Prim's clammy face. Prim stirs and whimpers in response. Katniss considers getting a glass of water to make her drink, but decides to wait until she can prepare an herbal tea. Prim barely seems able to drink anything and Katniss wants to make the fluids count.

Instead, she sinks into the chair she'd pulled up beside the bed and waits for Gale. She's hardly slept in the last few days, and she didn't sleep at all the previous night. Her eyelids are drooping, resisting her best efforts to keep them open. Eventually, she leans back against the chair and lets her eyes close.

* * *

Katniss doesn't remember falling asleep, but she knows she must have because the pounding on the door startles her. She springs from her chair, then starts coughing ferociously.

"Catnip!"

Gale shouts through the door as she tries to suppress her cough and remain upright. When the coughing fit finally subsides, she stumbles to the front door and lets Gale in.

"I have them."

They go into the kitchen and he puts the herbs on the counter. Katniss begins making a tea immediately. Gale looks around the house for a moment, then starts doing dishes.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"What does it look like?"

Katniss sighs and rephrases her question.

"Why are you doing our dishes?"

"Because you're probably out of clean ones, and you're going to have to eat off something."

"You don't have to."

"I don't. But I'm going to anyway."

If she had more energy and less other worries, Katniss would have put some kind of effort into stopping him. But at the moment, she can't bring herself to care. If he really wants to do their dishes, she's not going to stop him.

After a few minutes of working in silence, he says her name tentatively. She looks up from the water boiling on the stove.

"Where's your mother?"

"In her bedroom."

"Does she know about Prim?"

"I told her. I don't know if she understood. She's not…I don't know. She doesn't answer, doesn't even look at me. I just give her a plate of breakfast in the morning and a plate of supper at night. I'm not even sure when she eats. She won't do it in front of me."

Katniss moves the water off the stove and pours it into a cup.

"She used to eat with Prim. She didn't talk, but she at least did an activity with someone. But since Prim's sick…"

Katniss trails off so her voice doesn't wobble. Gale puts down the dish he's drying and comes to stand beside her. She thinks he might be about to hug her again, but she moves away before he gets the chance. If he does that, she might never move out of his arms.

She puts the crushed herbs into the tea satchel and sinks it into the water. When it's ready, she goes into the bedroom and sits in the chair beside her bed.

"Come on Little Duck," she shakes Prim gently. "Time to drink tea."

Prim wakes up, but doesn't seem capable of doing anything beyond whimpering. Katniss props her upright and pleads with her to open her mouth and swallow her tea. Prim only manages to drink half of it, the other half dribbles down her chin and onto her shirt. Katniss goes back out to make another cup of tea.

"I put a plate of my mom's stew in with your mother," Gale says. "You need to have some too."

He holds a bowl in front of her.

"In a minute. I'm going to get Prim another cup of tea."

"I'll do it. You need to eat."

"Gale-

"You look like hell. Now sit down and eat."

She really doesn't have the energy to argue. Even if she did, she's not sure she'd win because Gale's jaw is already starting to tense. He's given no sign that he's in the mood to back down from a fight tonight. So she sits at the kitchen table with the bowl of Hazelle's stew. She doesn't have an appetite, but she forces herself to eat. It's the only thing she's had all day.

Gale fixes Prim's tea and goes into the bedroom. When he comes out, he looks apprehensive.

"She spilled half of it," he tells Katniss.

"That's how it's been going lately."

He nods and takes a deep breath. He joins her at the table, but can't seem to stay still. He keeps tapping his fingers on the table or swinging the foot he has propped on his knee. When she glares at him, he shoots her an apologetic look and goes into the kitchen to continue washing dishes.

When she's finished, Katniss joins him.

"I'm not going to be able to hunt tomorrow," she tells him.

"I know."

Gale takes her plate and begins washing it. Katniss considers telling him to stop with the dishes already, but decides it isn't worth the argument. Instead, she goes to sit beside Prim again.

About an hour passes and Katniss nearly drifts off every five minutes. She's not sure what exactly Gale does, but judging by the sounds, she thinks he's straightening her house. Eventually, he comes and stands beside her chair.

"It's getting late and my mom's going to worry if I don't head back," he says.

"I'll be fine."

Gale lets out a breath.

"I'll come by with some meat and more herbs tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Get some rest, Catnip. You won't do Prim any good if you're too tired to function."

"Okay."

Gale sighs again and lets himself out.

* * *

Katniss fights sleep for hours after Gale leaves, but eventually she loses. When she wakes up the sun is out, so she must have slept for hours. But she's shivering and so exhausted that she may as well not have slept at all. Prim is still sleeping and Katniss decides to fix another cup of tea. Her muscles are aching as she stumbles out of the chair and into the kitchen.

She's just set the water to boil when a knock sounds on the door. She opens the door to Gale, who is carrying another bowl of stew, two squirrels, and some herbs.

"I found out about a medicine," he says as soon as he's stepped into the house.

"Besides herbs?"

"Medicine from the Capitol. It's all anyone was talking about at the Hob," Gale says. "Apparently, this fever spread around enough that it got the mayor's attention. He had his doctor examine some patients and they found out it's some kind of lung infection."

Katniss tries to process what he's saying, but she can't seem to stay focused. Her mind seems to be moving too slowly to keep up with Gale's speech.

"So they shipped some drugs in from the Capitol and are selling them at the apothecary. First batch arrived last night apparently. Catnip? Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah, there's medicine."

"Right, at the apothecary."

Slow as she may be feeling, her mind is quick enough to see the biggest problem.

"How much is it?"

"Thirty coins," Gale says. "Trust the Capitol to keep medicine nice and expensive, even when there's almost an epidemic. But, we've been doing well and I know you've been saving."

They both keep small jars of coins in their kitchens for emergencies. She's not sure exactly how much is in hers, but it might have thirty coins. She's added to it little by little over more than two years, and she's reluctant to use it for anything. If her mother was herself, then someone could tell Katniss if this fever was something that could be managed with herbs.

But her mother doesn't seem likely to come back any time soon, so Katniss has to figure out what to do on her own. She sits down at the kitchen table and puts her aching head in her hands while she thinks.

"Do you have that much?"

Katniss had almost forgotten Gale was there.

"I don't know," she says. "If we do, it's just barely thirty. I don't know if I should use it all for this. What if the fever goes down on its own?"

Gale nods. She knows he understands how difficult it is to spend everything in just one day. If another disaster strikes, they'll have nothing.

"Well, let's just see how much you have," he says eventually. "Maybe you'll still have some left over."

Or maybe she won't even have enough and it will all be moot. Slowly, she pushes herself up from the chair and walks into the kitchen. She can feel Gale's eyes boring into the back of her, watching her labored movements. He's going to start fussing at her if she doesn't get a better grip on herself. She probably ought to make herself a cup of tea when she makes one for Prim.

No sooner has the thought occurred to her, then she hears a hiss and splash from the stove. Katniss yelps and stumbles into the wall. Gale is inside the kitchen in an instant, moving the boiling water off the heat. Katniss watches him for a moment before she realizes that the water for Prim's tea had boiled over. Clearly she over-filled the pot.

"I was making tea," she explains to him.

"I figured."

He looks at her again.

"Why don't you get that money and sit down."

"I am," she snaps.

She goes over to the cabinet and fumbles through it until she finds the jar on the bottom shelf. She wants to go finish the tea, but Gale grips her arm and steers her towards the kitchen table.

"Knock it off," she snaps, yanking her arm out of his grasp. "I need to make the tea."

"I'll make it. Just sit down and count your money."

"Fine."

She gives him one more glare for good measure and sinks into a chair. It feels good to sit, but she's still freezing. Shakily, she empties the money from the jar and begins counting the coins. She loses track and has to start over twice before she finally gets to thirty-one. Barely enough.

Gale comes out of the kitchen moments later and puts a mug of tea in front of her.

"Drink," he orders.

"But it's for Prim-

"I have one for her too."

He holds the other mug in front of her, then goes into the bedroom to help Prim drink. Moments later she hears a mug shatter and Gale shouts her name.

"Katniss! Shit! Katniss!"

She stumbles into the bedroom to find Gale leaning over Prim, who's shaking uncontrollably. Her tiny arms and legs are flailing and her back is arching off the bed.

"What do I do?" Gale shouts frantically. "What do I do?"

He places his hands on her arms, trying to still her, but she keeps shaking. Katniss screams and runs to his side. She's trying to remember what to do about convulsions, but before she can gather her thoughts, the shaking stops.

Prim moans and opens her eyes.

"Dad?" she asks, peering at Gale. "Dad? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Gale manages to stutter." It's okay, just-just sleep."

"It hurts," she croaks.

"What does? What hurts?" Katniss asks.

"Everything."

Prim moans again and shuts her eyes. Katniss looks at Gale and sees her own terror reflected in his eyes. She tries to remember what convulsions mean and how to deal with them. Gale goes into their living room and returns with several of her mother's books. He drops them on the floor and kneels down, running his finger down the index entries in the back of each book. Katniss feels her stomach sink as she remembers one of the causes of convulsions.

"It means the fever's worse," she says. "I-I think I need to get the medicine, Gale. If it's not too late alrea-

"It's not!"

He says it so fiercely that Katniss almost believes him.

"Stay here with her. I'll be back with the medicine before you know it."

He springs up from the floor and Katniss hears the coins clank as he gathers them off the table. He's out the door less than a minute later.

With Gale gone, Katniss starts to curl up and cry, but finds the activity too exhausting after just a few minutes. Instead, she sits in the chair beside Prim's bed shivering and whispering to her sister.

"Hang on, we're going to get you medicine," she says as her teeth chatter. "J-just hang on, Prim. _Please_."

She lifts her knees to her chest so she can keep warm and have somewhere to rest her head. It occurs to her that she could probably use more tea herself, but she doesn't want to leave Prim's side.

She realizes that Gale isn't actually gone long, but it feels like forever. Prim starts to convulse again just minutes before he arrives. When he gets to the bedroom, Katniss is still hunched over Prim, who has just barely stopped shaking. Gale goes completely still.

"Catnip, is she…"

Gale trails off. But then Prim moans and he lets out the breath he was holding.

"Alright, I've got it," he says. "She needs to take two pills."

He puts the pills on the bed and returns moments later with a half-filled glass of water. Katniss wants to try and open the pill jar, but Gale is moving at twice her speed. He snatches up the jar, pours out the pills, and is propping Prim up before Katniss has even finished sitting up.

"Come on, sweetheart," Gale says softly, stroking Prim's hair as she moans. "Sit up."

Prim does nothing to assist him; she just whimpers as he moves her.

"Good job, you're doing great," Gale says when he's got her upright. "Now you just have to open your mouth and swallow. That's all."

"I-I…

"Shhh," Gale strokes her hair. "Just open-there's a good girl. Now in go the pills—no, no keep that mouth open. And some water."

He pours water down her throat and tilts her head back, forcing her to swallow. Prim coughs and groans, but ultimately swallows the pills.

"Good job. That was perfect."

Prim keeps coughing.

"Ouch," she manages to whimper.

Katniss feels her stomach clench and fights back tears.

"I know, I know," Gale soothes. "That was no fun, but it's going to make you better."

"Dad, I don't want to…"

"Shhhh, shhh. It's okay. I'm going to help you lay down, and then you can sleep, okay?"

"Katniss?" Prim opens her eyes fully and tries to move her head.

"Right here, little duck," Katniss squeezes Prim's hands. "Just lay down and rest."

Gale lifts Prim back down and brushes the hairs out of her face. Katniss pulls the covers around her sister and then sits down on the floor beside the bed, gripping Prim's hand. After a few minutes of silence, Gale says,

"If you're going to sit like that you should at least have something to lean on."

"No. I don't want to fall asleep."

"It's okay. I'll stay awake," Gale says. "But you've got to rest, Catnip. I can tell you haven't been."

She sighs. Sleep does sound wonderful. And Gale is here, he won't let anything happen while she's asleep.

"You promise to wake me if anything happens?"

"Of course."

Katniss lets him sit down in the chair behind her and scoot it up so she can rest her back against his legs. She's still cold and her body still aches, but she's so much more comfortable than she was before. Her eyes are so heavy that they close before she knows it.

* * *

It's dark outside when she feels Gale shake her awake. She's exhausted, achy, and shivering, but Gale is focused on Prim.

"Catnip, you awake?" he asks after she's had a moment to get her bearings. She nods and he continues, "I don't know if this is normal, but she's sweating a lot. It started after I gave her the second dose of medicine. I don't know if I should do something…"

Katniss releases Prim's hand and gets slowly to her feet so she can take a better look. Sweat has slicked Prim's hair to her forehead and beads of perspiration are running down her cheeks. It takes a moment for Katniss to process what this means, but when she does, she lets out a sound somewhere between a laugh and sob.

"Catnip?"

"She's better. She's really better."

Katniss feels Prim's forehead. She's still a bit warm, but nothing like she was. Katniss keeps taking shaky breaths. Gale is looking at her warily, like she might have lost her mind.

"It means her fever broke. Her body knows it's too hot and is trying to cool down by sweating," Katniss explains. "It means she's better, Gale."

She feels her eyes starting to prick up and her throat swelling, then she's getting pulled into Gale's arms. She sobs against his chest and he squeezes her so tightly it's almost painful. They stay like that for a long time and when her sobs stop, Katniss just leans into Gale, letting him support weight, because she's just _so_ tired. They only move when a knock sounds at the door.

When Katniss opens it up, Rory is there. He starts to say hello, but he looks at her and his mouth just hangs open. He looks frightened and when he finally speaks his voice comes out in a shaky whisper.

"Is she-is she…

It's only then that Katniss realizes what she must look like, with red eyes, a runny nose, and tear-stained cheeks.

"No, no. Her fever just broke. She's going to be okay."

Rory lets out a breath and manages an awkward smile. Katniss steps away from the door and Gale shuts it behind Rory. Exhausted, she sinks into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Mom sent me," Rory tells Gale. "She's getting worried. She said you could stay if you needed to, or that she would come over. But she wants you to check in with her."

"Yeah, it got late."

"And Maura came by. She seemed pissed."

"She'll get over it once I explain about Prim."

Gale sighs heavily and looks over at Katniss. She can feel him taking her in, from her bloodshot eyes to her hunched posture. His eyes radiate concern and Katniss feels somewhat ridicules. Does she really look that terrible? She must though, because even Rory looks concerned.

"It's okay, you can head back now," she assures them.

Rory looks down, but Gale keeps staring at her.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Her fever broke, the worst is over."

"And what about you? Are you finally going to rest?"

"I rested today."

Gale snorts.

"Really rest, Catnip. Make yourself a cup of tea, lie down in a bed, and really get some sleep."

"Yes, I am. Believe me, I want to."

And she does; she can't remember if she's ever felt so exhausted. Her head hurts, her whole body aches, and she keeps getting chills. She wants nothing more than to lie down.

"Okay," Gale says. "I'll come by tomorrow morning with some food."

"We have plenty."

"Well, it never hurts to have extra."

"You don't need to."

"Well, I will. And there's nothing you can say to stop me."

"Fine," Katniss shakes her head in exasperation. There really is no reasoning with him when he's like this. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Gale nods and he and Rory walk to the door. Before he shuts it closed behind them, Gale looks over at Katniss again and says,

"Take care of yourself tonight, Catnip."

"I will."

And she truly intended to. But, when she went to make tea, her teeth were chattering uncontrollably. Her head felt heavy and her whole body ached, and she just couldn't get herself to even finish pouring water in a pot. So, Katniss put the pot down and leaned against the wall. As she let herself sink down onto the floor and told herself she'd only rest a moment.

But it must have been longer than a moment, because when Katniss wakes up it's so bright her eyes hurt. She's cold, she's shaking, and her whole body seems to hurt. Her head is actually pounding, or is that a pounding on the door? She's not sure, but it certainly won't go away.

"Catnip! Catnip!"

It must be the door. It must be Gale. Katniss tries to move from the floor, but her muscles don't cooperate. It doesn't much concern her. He'll go away and let her rest eventually.

"Katniss?"

The hoarse, shaky voice from down the hall does concern her. That's Prim. Prim needs her. Katniss urges her muscle to move again, and this time she's able to push shakily upright. She leans against the counter to catch her breath.

"Katniss?"

She can barely hear Prim above Gale's pounding and shouting.

"I'm here, Little Duck," she croaks.

But Prim must not have heard, because her voice sounds more frantic. Amid the noise Gale's making, Katniss hears a crash from the bedroom. She pushes herself from the edge of the counter, towards the exit of the kitchen. Once she gets to the main room, she has to rest. She sinks down against the wall again and calls to Prim.

"I'm over here, Prim, I'm here."

She thinks she might have been louder that time, but Prim certainly didn't hear. The words come out of her mouth at the same her front door falls into the entry way. Katniss groans at the sound, it seems to reverberate through her entire body, making all her muscles throb.

When she looks up, she sees Gale stepping around the door and scanning the room. When he sees her, he mutters a series of profanities and runs over to her.

"Catnip? Catnip?"

"Prim. Get Prim."

"Catn-

"PRIM!"

She meant to shout, but it comes out a hoarse, angry moan. But it's sufficient for Gale to sense her desperation, because he turns and runs down the hallway. Katniss feels a sense of relief wash over her when she hears his voice mingling with Prim's.

But Gale comes out again almost immediately and Katniss starts feeling frantic again. Where is she? Is she alright?

"Prim-

"Sh," Gale cuts her off. "Prim is fine. _You_ are not."

* * *

_I know, I'm terrible. I resolved Prim's situation and then left you with Katniss getting sick._ _I thought it was just so like Katniss to run herself into the ground taking care of Prim. I'll work on the next chapter as quickly as I can, but it will probably be more like a week or week-and-half wait, as opposed to the four days for this chapter. Thanks again for all your reviews and do feel free to give suggestions. I know GlassHeart1993 still wants to see Gale and Katniss take a nap and cuddle together, and I swear it will happen :) _


	9. Chapter 9

_Thank you all so so much for your reviews! They mean a lot to me and never fail to make me smile. You guys just say such nice things! _

_Mooglez: I'm glad someone appreciated Gale kicking down the door. As I was writing that, I thought 'this is probably ridicules fanservice and I just don't care. I want him to kick that damn door down.' We'll see Gale's angry side plenty, because he does have a temper. I can't have him get angry at Cray though because getting angry at the head peacekeeper could get him into huge kinds of trouble, leaving his family without the main provider. While Gale does have a major temper, I think his concern for his family is about the only thing that could keep it in check.  
_

_zwergilein: While a Katniss/Maura fight would be entertaining, I can't really do it. In order for that to happen, Katniss would have to admit that she's some kind of jealous of Maura, which would require admitting she has feelings for Gale. Katniss is just not that self aware.  
_

_bohobo: You're back! I'm super jealous you got to go to Thailand. I hope it was awesome. And I totally agree Gale would be a super, super hot dad. Oh, and I thought of a way to work in your Katniss taking care of shirtless Gale suggestion. It'll be a few chapters, but when you said that, I was like "oh-oh I can do that! I've got that!" _

_Anyway, hope you all enjoy!_

* * *

Katniss concentrates on Gale's words and eventually comes to the conclusion that she probably isn't quite fine, but that doesn't make her any less concerned about Prim.

"But is she-

"Shhh, Catnip, it's okay."

Gale kneels down on the floor across from her.

"Her fever broke last night, remember? She's a little weak, but she's going to be fine. I'll keep an eye on her, I promise."

Through the haze of her own fever, it takes her a little while to process what Gale's saying, but it sinks in eventually. Prim is okay and Gale is going to watch over her. Relieved, Katniss shuts her eyes and leans her head back against the wall.

Gale places a hand on her forehead and Katniss trembles slightly at the cool touch. He keeps his hand there for a moment before he removes it and she actually hears his teeth grate as he clenches his jaw. He stands up again and proceeds to pace around their living room. Katniss tries to keep track of his steps, but the effort makes her dizzy. She doesn't even realize he's standing in front of her again until he says,

"I'm going to be right back, okay Catnip?"

She nods and hears the sound of his feet moving father away. When he shuts the door behind him, she shivers. She curls her legs into her chest and rests her head on her knees. She would like to lie in bed, but the prospect of moving seems too daunting. Eventually, she settles for lying down against the wall curled up tightly on her side.

Katniss wouldn't have thought she'd be able to sleep that way, but she must because the voices in her house startle her.

"I worried this would happen."

"I know, me too."

"And where is their mother?"

"Lying in bed and staring at the ceiling while her daughters die."

"Gale!"

"What? It's true."

Katniss has no trouble placing Gale's voice, but it takes her a moment to identify Hazelle.

"I'm going to try talking to her. Fix Katniss some tea."

She hears Gale move into the kitchen and suppresses a groan at the thought of more damn tea. It tastes terrible. But Gale is relentless when he returns with it, and she's halfway done with her second glass when Hazelle interrupts.

"Unbelievable!" Katniss hears a door slam as she stomps towards them. "She didn't say a word! Not a word! It's-I-it's unconscionable! Her children are sick! Her house is filthy! She doesn't even know if they're eating, because she's certainly not feeding them! And I tell her all this and-and _nothing_. Just nothing."

"I told you."

"Oh hush. I need to think."

Hazelle takes over pacing the room, letting out an indignant huff periodically.

"Well," she says at last. "I don't see another way…I just-I can't…this can't keep going…"

"Mom?"

Katniss hears Gale put the tea mug down beside her and stand up.

"They're going to stay with us. If she isn't going to take care of them, we will. We'll even take care of _her_."

"Okay," Gale says slowly. "How are we going to-

"Sh, I'm still thinking."

Gale makes a grumble of discontent, but then falls silent.

"Alright, we're going to move you boys into the living room for now. Katniss needs her own room so this doesn't spread. I don't want anyone besides us anywhere near her. Prim and her mother can sleep in my room."

"Okay."

"You're gong to need to move Mrs. Everdeen's mattress into my bedroom. You'll also need to move Vick and Rory's bed into the living room. I don't know if your bed will fit. Maybe-"

"It's fine. I'll sleep on the couch and we'll put Katniss on my bed."

"We'll do no such thing. We'd have to burn your mattress after she'd slept on it. I'm not taking any chances with this fever. You can put your mattress against the wall and move in the one Prim's been using."

"Alright, I'll get started. You're going to stay here with Katniss, right?"

"Of course."

Katniss doesn't bother to open her eyes, but she can hear Gale's footsteps tread down the hall. Hazelle gets to the ground in front of her.

"Hello dear," she reaches out and puts a hand on Katniss's forehead. "We're going to get you better. Let's start with a cold compress."

Hazelle gets up and returns a few minutes later with a cold washcloth that she presses to Katniss's forehead. Katniss mumbles feeble protests because it's so cold and she was freezing already, but Hazelle shushes her gently and begins to whisper soothingly. She tells Katniss what a wonderful big sister she is, how she had taken such good care of Prim, and how she always takes good care of her family. Though she's still achy and miserable, Katniss feels a warmth that has nothing to do with fever as she listens to Hazelle. The warmth seems to spread through her chest and wash away her anxiety until she almost doesn't care how sick she is. She lets out a contented breath and drifts to sleep.

A few hours later, Katniss wakes up thinking she's floating in the woods. She's off the ground and she smells the orange, pine and Gale-smell that's always with her in the woods. It's only when she shifts and opens her eyes that she realizes she's in Gale's arms getting carried through the Seam. Startled, she twists around and tries to speak.

"Catnip?"

They stop moving. He looks down at her, eyes wide with concern.

"Where we going?" She forces the words out even though her throat aches.

"To my house. Your family's going to stay with us while we get you better. Okay?"

She nods and buries her head into his chest.

"Don't worry anymore, I've got you."

She feels the slight brush of his lips against the top of her head and then they're moving again. When they get to the house, Hazelle opens the door for them and Gale takes her into his room. He lowers her gently onto the bed and adjusts the pillow behind her head.

"How's that?"

She shifts, trying to get more support for her neck. Gale reaches behind her and plumps up the pillow. She gives him a small smile and he brushes her hair out of her face.

"I'm cold."

"You have a fever."

"Can I have a blanket?"

"No Catnip. We don't want you any hotter."

Katniss is so tired of being cold. Of aching. She's so miserable she wants to cry. Gale's eyes crinkle with worry as he watches her.

"Okay, maybe we can get you a light sheet."

He gets up and returns a few minutes later with the sheet, which he gently drapes over her and tucks beneath her chin.

"Better?"

She nods.

"Good, now I want you to get some rest, and in a few hours we'll drink more tea."

Gale shifts in his chair and Katniss feels herself getting apprehensive. She's not sure why, but she doesn't want him to leave. Gale tilts his head to the side and studies her face for a moment before he gives her a gentle smile. Then he scoots the chair closer to the bed and rubs her shoulder.

"Okay," he says and she knows he won't leave her.

* * *

During the next few days, Katniss finds it more and more difficult to keep track of where she is or who is with her. Her body continues to ache and drinking tea becomes more painful. The shivering eventually stops and it becomes harder and harder to do things like turn her head or smile at Gale.

Eventually, she thinks she's in the woods with her father, or at home playing with Prim. Things are slightly strange in this dreamland. Her father will suddenly morph into Gale in the woods. Prim will shift into Hazelle or her mother.

Sometimes Katniss thinks she hears snatches of conversations that aren't part of her dreams.

"I'm not going to school. I'm not leaving her."

"She's not going to get better just because you stay home, Gale."

Sometimes the voices tell her she has to get better, though Katniss isn't sure what she's supposed to get better at. Hunting? Isn't she already bringing back enough food? But the voices persist.

"Come on Catnip, you've got to get better. I-I need-just please, Catnip, _please_."

"Katniss, you have to get well. You have to. Don't leave me and mom."

One day she wakes up and she can't remember where she is. She's exhausted and can barely keep her eyes open. When she does open them, the people around her are completely unfamiliar. There's a warm liquid being pressed to her lips, but it's bitter. She tries to move her head away, but that's just too tiring and eventually she lets her mouth hang open. She barely notices the voices or the feeling of liquid dripping down her chin, but she's still relieved when all the commotion stops and she's left to rest in peace.

But they bother her again soon. Her mouth gets opened, something dropped in, and just before she gags, water gets poured down her throat. This happens a second time, and then a third.

When Katniss wakes up next, the fog in her mind has cleared. She's drenched in sweat and confused by her surroundings. These aren't her sheets and that isn't her room. Something has been going on, but it's not coming to her right away. She starts getting frantic, but then she sees Prim in the chair next to her bed and Gale slumped against the wall nearby.

"Prim."

Her voice cracks from lack of use.

Prim starts and nearly falls out of the chair. Gale jerks and bangs his head into the wall.

"Katniss! Katniss!"

Prim springs up from the chair and leaps onto the bed, burying her face in Katniss's chest. Katniss sighs, soaking in the familiar scent and feeling of Prim, healthy, safe Prim. She takes deep breaths, keeping Prim close as she recalls what she can remember of the last few days. She recalls Prim's fever breaking, Gale coming over the next day, Gale carrying her to his home…Gale and Hazelle giving her tea, Gale talking to her…

A familiar hand rests on her forehead and Katniss looks up at Gale. He looks terrible, with bloodshot eyes, unkempt hair, and deeper frown lines.

"Hardly any fever."

His voice is hoarse.

"Catnip, do you know where you are?"

She can see both worry and guarded hope in his eyes, and it makes her heart constrict. She wishes she could reach up and smooth the worry lines off his face.

"I'm at your house, Gale. You brought me here because I was sick."

He lets out a long, shaky breath.

"Okay, okay-I'll-I'll be right back."

Then he turns abruptly and strides out of the room. Katniss frowns after him, but Prim just sighs.

"He's probably going to go cry again."

Katniss feels so incredibly uncomfortable at the thought that she practically itches.

"You had us all so scared," Prim says, her voice shaking. She lets a little sob escape her and Katniss struggles to sit up and hug her properly.

"I-I'm s-sorry," Prim cries. "Don't move. You n-need to rest. I'm b-being silly."

"Shh," Katniss says. "It's not silly. I cried for ages when your fever broke."

Prim smiles and wipes the corners of her eyes.

"I should get back in the chair before Hazelle comes in. She'll get mad if she sees me laying all over you. It was only yesterday that she decided I had recovered enough to see you."

Katniss smiles, thanking the universe yet again for Hazelle Hawthorne.

Gale returns just after Prim's settled herself back in the chair. His face and hair look slightly damp and he's carrying a glass of water.

"Let's sit you up so you can drink this," he says, coming behind her and easing her up against the headboard. He holds the water towards her lips, but Katniss tries to grab it out of his hands. He needs to know she's going to be okay now.

"I can do it," she says, stretching her hands toward the glass.

He hands it to her and Katniss shakily maneuvers it to her lips. It's pathetic how difficult she's finding this.

"Catnip, I can-

"Stop fussing," she snaps. But she feels instantly ashamed, where would she be if Gale hadn't fussed? That's really no way to treat him after he-wait, was he laughing at her?

Katniss's remorse fades immediately, because sure enough, Gale's mouth is twitching and his eyes are twinkling.

"Ah, how I've missed that irritable tone," he turns to Prim and says, "She's back."

And then they're both practically howling with laughter and Katniss can't decide if she should be offended, or indignant, or…happy. Because it occurs to her that it had probably been days since they laughed.

They're almost done laughing at her when Hazelle comes in.

"Your fever broke," she beams at Katniss. She comes over and smoothes Katniss' hair. Up close Katniss can see Hazelle's eyes are shining and suddenly she is overcome by just how heavily her health must have weighed on them. Her throat starts to close and her eyes are stinging, but before she loses her composure, Hazelle is shooing everyone out of the room, saying they all need rest.

"We're all so happy you're better dear," Hazelle says, laying a light blanket over Katniss. "Now get some rest, and we'll be in to check on you in a few hours."

"Thanks," Katniss whispers.

"Of course, dear."

* * *

When Katniss wakes up again, everyone except Hazelle and Posy are at school. Hazelle brings Katniss a small breakfast and fixes her a bath. Katniss is somewhat embarrassed that she needs Hazelle's help to get out of bed and stumble into the bathtub. She can barely stand on her own and it takes her forever to dry herself off and dress again. Hazelle has taken away her clothes and left Katniss one of her own nightgowns to put on.

By the time she's finished, Hazelle has put a fresh set of sheets on Gale's mattress and helps Katniss to lie down there.

"We'll have Gale move the old mattress and put this one on the frame when he gets home," Hazelle says. "But I'm getting rid of your clothes, sheets, and the mattress."

Katniss winces at the cost of replacing all that.

"I know," Hazelle says with a sigh. "But, that fever is contagious and it's just not worth the risk."

She tucks a blanket around Katniss and goes to make another cup of tea. As she disappears, Katniss feels her stomach drop. She had been thinking about the cost of replacing her things, when something else occurred to her. What about the cost of the medicine? She had barely been able to buy any for Prim. If she had gotten medicine, it must have been bought with the Hawthorne's money. But that's impossible. Gale wouldn't have. He wouldn't have taken his family's savings to buy her medicine. Not when that money could have bought all kinds of things for Rory, Vick, and Posy. Wasn't it enough that he was feeding and caring for her family right now? He wouldn't have done more. He just wouldn't have. Her stomach is churning just thinking about it.

"Are you alright dear?" Hazelle asks. She comes and sits down on the floor with a cup of tea in her hand. Katniss has to ask. She's terrified of the answer, but not knowing will kill her.

"How did I get well?"

Hazelle sighs. She clearly knows perfectly well why Katniss is asking this question.

"After a few days, it was clear the teas weren't working. You were going to die if we didn't get you that medicine."

Katniss feels her breakfast threatening to make a reappearance.

"You-you bought it?"

"We couldn't," Hazelle shakes her head. "Gale and I had just bought Vick a pair of boots. The ones Gale and Rory had worn were too torn up. So, we didn't have enough saved. Gale and I went through the house and we gathered up all the things we didn't need. A lamp, some clothes, some jewelry-

"Jewelry?" Katniss chokes. Women from the Seam only have one piece of jewelry: wedding rings. Gale had always said he would die before he let Hazelle pawn off her wedding ring, so if she had done it to get Katniss medicine then, then-

"I still have it."

Hazelle flashes her left hand.

"Gale wouldn't take it at first, but we both knew the others things wouldn't add up to enough. He said he'd find a way to make the trades, but I made him bring it just in case."

"But if you still have it, then how…"

Katniss' mind is working in overdrive. People at the Hob like Gale, but not enough to give him thirty coins for some used clothes and a beaten up lamp.

"Haymitch Abernathy," Hazelle shakes her head, as though still in disbelief herself. "After Gale had gotten everything he could without selling the ring, he was talking to Sae. Probably just trying to get someone to reassure him it was okay to sell it. Which it was."

Katniss opens her mouth to object. It was certainly not okay. Not even close. But Hazelle looks at her and shushes her.

"Half the women around here don't have them anyway, but Gale's always been funny about it. Apparently you are too," she shakes her head. "Anyway, Haymitch overheard and said he'd give Gale the money if Gale worked off the debt by painting and repairing his fence."

Katniss feels her mouth drop open.

"Gale said he didn't accept right away, thought it was charity. But Haymitch convinced him that he was going to have to hire someone anyway, so it might as well be Gale. He's going to start on Saturday."

"I should do it," Katniss said. "It's the least I can-

"Nonsense. Gale might let you help when you get better, but you're not going to be in any shape to repair a fence on Saturday."

Katniss can't really argue with that, so she just sits back, leaning against the wall and letting the information sink in. It was crazy everything the Hawthornes had done. Gale was going to sell his mother's wedding ring, the last piece of his father that Hazelle had left. And it wasn't just Gale. Hazelle wanted him to do it. Katniss feels tears prick up in the back of her eyes.

"Hazelle, I-I don't know what-I- _thank you_."

"You don't have to thank me."

"B-but you took care of me and you were going to-

"Do you know who delivered my first three children?" Hazelle isn't angry, but her stare has a certain fierceness that Katniss has only seen when Gale's at his most serious.

"Your mother did. We paid her next to nothing. And even though she was sick when Posy came around, I wouldn't have known how to deliver Posy if she hadn't taught me with the first three. Your mother gave me my children. As far as I'm concerned, I could care for you for a lifetime and still be in her debt."

Katniss has no idea what to say, but Hazelle just continues.

"And even if that weren't the case, you're like family Katniss. We would all be hurt if something happened to you, but Gale…he would…"

Hazelle shakes her head.

"We're always going to take care of you, Katniss. And your family too. Always."

Katniss struggles to collect her thoughts and voice some of the enormous gratitude she feels, but her throat seems to have closed. Hazelle just smiles at her and says,

"Now get some rest, dear."

She gets up and leaves the room, shutting the door gently behind her. Katniss stares at the ceiling, trying to get some kind of grip on the dizzying array of emotions she's experiencing.

The fact that her mother's past actions might have helped save her leaves Katniss with a strange mixture of guilt, resentment, and frustration. She ought to be grateful, but she isn't. Katniss didn't see how she could be grateful for her mother's actions years ago when she had so recently left Prim to die. Was she supposed to just forget that because her mother _used_ to take care of people?

Katniss rolls onto her side and kicks at her blanket. She doesn't want to think about her mother anymore. She knows her mother delivered Gale, Rory and Vick, but her mother delivered lots of children in the Seam and their mothers wouldn't have done what Hazelle did. Could she really like Katniss that much? She only knows her through Gale.

Katniss' mind stops whirring the moment she thinks his name. It was Gale. This happened because of Gale. Hazelle cares about her because Gale cares about her, which means Gale must care about her an awful lot. Katniss sort of already knew that, but now she _really_ knows it. And it leaves her feeling both safe and terrified. Safe because Gale has her back, even when they're not hunting. Terrified because she isn't sure she really deserves that kind of loyalty.

She especially doesn't deserve it because she can't even begin to make this up to Gale. Even if she could afford to give him all her kills, it still wouldn't repay him for saving her life and caring for Prim. How do you pay someone back for _that_? She supposes she could save his life in return, but when is that ever going to happen? Maybe they'll get attacked by a bobcat while hunting and Katniss can save him. She knows there's got to be something wrong with her because now she's half hoping for a bobcat attack. Groaning, she rolls onto her stomach and buries her face in the pillow. She's had it with her own mind. She's going to sleep.

When Katniss wakes up again, Prim and Rory are sitting on the floor near her mattress. They're working quietly on their homework, occasionally whispering to each other.

Prim is thrilled when she sees that Katniss is awake. She feels her forehead and fusses with her blankets, somewhat put out that Katniss doesn't really need anything more from her. Katniss doesn't mind the fussing from Prim. She knows her sister probably hated being forced to recover quietly while Katniss's fever raged. If it makes Prim feel better, than Katniss can put up with being babied.

Rory grins at Katniss and she knows he can tell she's indulging Prim. Once Prim has settled down at the edge of the mattress, Katniss asks Rory how he's been doing, because she's really quite ready to stop being the center of attention.

"Busy, but good," he says. "Gale let me check the snare line by myself a few times while you were sick. He was so busy pulling his hair out of over you that he forgot to freak out about me being in the woods alone. So thanks for that."

Katniss laughs. She's always thought Gale's paranoia about Rory being alone in the woods was well-intentioned, but misplaced. She had been younger than Rory when she was in the woods alone, and she'd told Gale as much before. But Gale always said her situation was necessary, but not ideal. As far as Gale was concerned, Rory going into the woods alone was an unnecessary danger. But Katniss thought it was good for him. How was Rory going to learn to tread quietly and listen to his instincts if he was never alone and really forced to do so?

"Glad I could help," she says. "I've told him to let you out there more."

"I know. He got mad at me once and told me to stop recruiting you to my cause."

Katniss laughs because she can just imagine the words coming out of Gale's mouth as he grumbled around the house and slammed things unnecessarily.

"Maybe he'll be better now that you've gone and survived a few times," Katniss says.

"Nope, nope I won't. It was a momentary lapse in judgment."

Everyone in the room starts because Gale had appeared silently and is leaning against the doorframe. He's trying his best to glare at them, but his eyes are twinkling.

"You got lucky Rory, I'm not letting up that easy. And you," he points a finger at Katniss. "Stop encouraging him. You haven't even been conscious twenty-four hours and you're already causing me trouble."

Gale takes off his hunting jacket and hangs it on the doorknob. He ruffles Prim's hair and sits down beside her on the edge of the mattress.

"I see you're doing well enough, Catnip."

"Yeah, still weak though. It's pathetic."

"You'll get back to yourself soon enough," he shrugs.

Now that he's closer, Katniss takes a moment to study his face. His eyes aren't bloodshot anymore, but the dark circles are still there. She thinks he may even look thinner than he was before she got ill. He's probably been working himself to exhaustion trying to keep everyone fed and look after her. The now-familiar feeling of guilt washes over Katniss again. She needs to say something to him. Give him some kind of thank you, but she can't with Rory and Prim there. It will be hard enough to say it to just Gale.

Gale watches her carefully and she meets his eyes. He wants time alone with her too.

"So Catnip, think you're feeling up to sitting out on the porch?" he asks. "We'll bundle you in blankets and let you get some fresh air."

"Sounds great."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Prim asks.

"Don't worry Little Duck. I'll only stay out a bit, but I've been cooped up inside for too long."

Prim frowns.

"How about I make her drink tea while she's out there?" Gale asks. "Will that work, doctor?"

Prim's lips twitch and she tries to keep her expression serious.

"I suppose I can agree to that," she says. "I'll go fix the tea."

Katniss glares at Gale. Prim may be satisfied, but Katniss never wants to drink willow bark tea again, ever.

"Thanks for that," she grumbles.

"Anytime."

He's completely unrepentant, but she can't say that really surprises her.

"Ready?"

He extends his hand and she uses it to help pull herself out of bed and get standing. Gale keeps ahold of her hand and puts his other hand on the small of her back. She wants to bat him away, but she needs the extra support when she first stands. Eventually she feels firmly planted on the floor and Gale lets her go.

He takes the blankets from the mattress and wraps them around Katniss, lightly rubbing her shoulders. A few minutes later, Prim returns with the tea and they're ready to begin the journey to the porch.

Katniss recalled just how difficult it was to walk with Hazelle to the bathroom, but she was hoping she'd do a bit better this time around. Unfortunately, she has no such luck. They're barely down the hall when she starts getting winded. Gale opens his mouth, on the verge of offering help, but shuts it again when she glares at him. He rolls his eyes, but lets her stumble slowly out to the front porch.

But when she goes to sit down, she feels her legs starting to collapse. Gale loops an arm around her waist and lowers them both to the porch steps. She's too out of breath to snap at him, even when he hands her the cup of tea.

Katniss chokes down a few sips as she decides how to begin her thank you .

The sun is starting to dip low in the sky, leaving a strip of orange above the tree line. It's a bit chilly outside, but warm enough that children are still playing outside.

"So you bought me medicine," Katniss says at last.

"In a manner of speaking."

"Gale, I-

"Please don't Catnip."

The tiredness in his voice startles her.

"Don't what?" She tries not to sound hurt. "Don't thank you?"

"Oh," Gale scuffs his boot in the dirt below them. "I-I thought you were going to tell me I shouldn't have done it."

Well, he shouldn't have, but Katniss is awfully glad he did.

"I…" she tries to explain. "Thank you, Gale. I don't know how to repay-

"Stop," he shakes his head. "That's exactly what I don't want. This whole paying me back thing has got to stop. I know you're upset about the money-

"That's not it!"

Katniss didn't realize until he said it, but it's not the money that's upsetting her. Gale studies her, but remains silent as Katniss tries to figure out what exactly _is _upsetting her. Once she has, she tries to gather up the courage to say it.

"It's just that we're partners, friends, right?"

"Exactly, which is why-

She looks at him and he falls silent.

"It's-it's not…even anymore. You've given so much and I…I haven't offered anything in return."

She bites her lip and looks away from him, wishing he wouldn't realize how humiliated she is.

"That's not true."

There's no trace of a lie in the way he says it. Katniss stares at him, trying to figure out how he could possibly disagree with her.

"Maybe you didn't buy a medicine, but it's not about that," Gale looks straight at her for a moment, but then drops his gaze and stares at his boots. "You have my back. You-you understand how things are. It-I-it's just _you_, okay? I know I'm doing a shit job explaining this, but can you just trust me when I say you do offer something?"

Katniss frowns. She's not sure that she can. It's not because she thinks he's lying to her, she just can't understand what she's brought to the table lately other than problems.

"At the end of the day, are you really friends with me because I bought you that medicine?"

"We were friends before that."

"Well why? What had I done then?"

"I don't know, lots of things."

"Which ones made us friends?"

"I don't know," she searches her mind, trying to explain why she's friends with Gale. It's more complicated than she would have thought. She can list a bunch of things he's done for her, but none of that really explains why she feels so close to him. "I don't know-just everything. Just you."

"Exactly. It's the same for me. It's not a tally of good deeds, Catnip. You're not someone I keep score with."

Katniss considers this. There are very few people with whom she doesn't keep score, but she supposes Gale is one of those people. She'd help him just because he's Gale. So, perhaps it's alright if he's the same with her.

"Okay," she says at last.

They don't need to say anything else after that. She finishes her tea and he helps her up. And when he puts an arm around her as they make their way back inside, she doesn't resist. And he doesn't protest when she says she wants to help with Haymitch's fence, when she's fully recovered that is.

* * *

_Unfortunately, it may take me a couple weeks to update again. I'm very sorry about that, but I'm in the process of moving and visiting with someone who will be leaving the country soon. I will update, promise, but it'll be a bit of a wait. In the mean time, I've created a tumblr page. I'll post previews of the chapter as I write and hot pictures of Gale. I'll also recommend other stories that I've really enjoyed. Not the same as an update, but hopefully still some fun. The link is on my profile since the site automatically deletes links. But my tumblr user name is MaryAnn1819, so that should make it easy enough to find.  
_


	10. Chapter 10

_So it's been over a month and I'm very sorry for the delay. Hopefully, I'll never make you all wait like that again. _

_GlassHeart1993: Thank you so much for reading my story, and then going back later to post a long review. That was so sweet! I'm so glad you feel for the characters and think I have done a good job keeping them in character. _

_I like it: I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far, thanks for reading. As far as Gale and Maura go, she's really into him and so she's willing to tolerate behavior that perhaps she shouldn't. I think we've all seen that from girls when they really like a guy. I'm sorry you're finding parts of it repetitive, but I do think Gale would probably have had more than one girlfriend/relationship and Maura does have a role to play in the eventual Galeniss. And actually, the mining accident and sickness is all leading somewhere. Hopefully, you won't have the same issues with the rest of the story. We are eventually going to get into some drama with the Capitol and some romantic fluff, so there will be some new things._

_I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks again for reading!_

* * *

Katniss's first trip outside the Hawthornes' house is to a funeral. She wasn't aware Thom's mother had caught the fever, but apparently she had gotten sick around the same time Katniss did. She died two days after Katniss's fever broke. With his father and brother dead in the mining accident, Thom and his mother had gone through what meager savings they'd had, and there was no money for medicine. Like every family in the Seam, they could only afford to weather so much tragedy.

So Katniss and Prim join the Hawthorne's in District 12's graveyard. Thom says a few words about his mother and then piles dirt over what is left of her. Peacekeepers always remove the bodies of the dead for cremation and return the ashes in a small box to be buried with a generic marker. Gale once said that if the bodies weren't burned there wouldn't enough space in the graveyard for all of the district's dead.

At the funeral, Thom shakes hands with everyone and thanks them for coming. When he's not talking, his mouth is closed in an expressionless line and his eyes look profoundly tired. Katniss thinks he looks ten years older than he did a few months ago. When he shakes her hand, Katniss feels an immense guilt. She is alive, Prim is alive, and yet his mother is not. Would Gale have helped Thom and his mother more if he hadn't been so focused on Katniss? Once the question occurs to her, she can't bear to look at Thom. She drops his hand quickly and goes to stand behind Hazelle.

"Are you feeling alright, dear?" Hazelle asks.

"Just tired," Katniss lies.

"Of course, we should get you back now."

Hazelle and the children leave with Katniss, while Gale stays behind with Thom. He doesn't come home for hours. When he arrives, his shoulders are slumped and the smile he gives his siblings is so clearly forced that Vick says,

"Don't smile. We're not stupid, you know."

"I never said you were."

Gale leans against the wall and shuts his eyes.

"Well then don't smile. We know everyone is sad today."

"Okay, Vick."

Gale stays leaning against the wall and Katniss wishes they could go out to the woods because she thinks that might help. But she's too tired and it's getting late anyway. So when Gale opens his eyes, she suggests the next best thing by jerking her head towards the Hawthorne's back door.

Gale follows her outside into the open space between the Hawthorne's house and the front of the next house in the Seam. Lady greets them with a rather despondent sounding bleat and Buttercup hisses and darts out of their path. The cat doesn't seem to like Gale any better than he does Katniss.

Gale's father had built a bench underneath a tree, and Katniss leads Gale there. He doesn't say anything for awhile, just sits and stares vacantly at the rows of Seam houses.

"You know what's crazy?" he says finally. "I hated Thom for like a year. It was after my dad died and I hated him because he still had a dad. And he had a big brother too. So just I hated him because he didn't have to put food on the table."

Katniss knows that feeling well. She hated everyone with parents for a little while too.

"Now though," Gale shakes his head. "I'm sure he'd kill to have mouths to feed. I just-I mean his whole family gone in the space of a month. That shouldn't even be possible."

But it is possible, and it's not even all that surprising. Whole families die of starvation every winter. The only thing surprising is that it happened so quickly to a family that once had two able-bodied miners.

"He's going to have to live in the community home until he can start mining," Gale says. "He had asked if he could just keep his house for a few months, since that's all it is, but they can't even give him that."

"Of course not," Katniss snorts. "It wasn't terrible enough already, they had to throw in the community home."

"He'll be alright though. He's probably the biggest guy there."

Katniss nods. At least there are small comforts. She was about to say it wouldn't be very long until he got to work in the mines anyway, but that thought doesn't sit well with her. It means that in a few months Gale will be in the mines. He must be thinking something along those lines because he turns and locks eyes with her.

"I have a favor to ask you," he takes a deep breath and pushes the words out in rush. "I know I might die and my body might get trapped in the mines, but if-if they're able to get my body and cremate me, would you…would you take my ashes out and scatter them in the woods?"

Katniss feels the breath leave her body and she goes perfectly still.

"I don't want you to get into trouble, so you can bring the box back and have the regular ceremony. No one will know. I just…I don't want to be in that graveyard. And I-I don't want to be stuck beneath the earth in the mines, although there may be nothing anyone can do about that. But...try, will you?"

"Gale."

She wants to protest, tell him he's not going to die any time soon, because that's just crazy. She won't accept that, not even now, in light of all that's happened.

"Katniss, just-just will you? If something happens?"

He's determined and she knows better than to argue.

"It won't. But if it does, I will."

He nods and she thinks for a moment about what he's said. Her father is buried in that graveyard and Katniss would want to be with him. But the more she thinks about it, the more Katniss thinks her father is more in the woods than he is in that graveyard. He's really at the cabin by the lake. She realizes she'd want to be buried there. And even though she's never taken Gale, she has no doubt he could find it.

"Gale," she says. "I want my ashes in the woods too."

"You're not going to die. I won't let you."

"Gale!" she huffs. "You made_ me_ promise."

"Fine. I promise too."

"But, not just anywhere," Katniss forces her voice to remain steady. "My father used to take me to this place. It's about nine miles northwest of our rock. If you just head that way, you'll get to this little cave, then bear a little more north, and you'll get to it."

Gale is looking at her carefully. There's some surprise in his expression, perhaps because she's kept a secret about the woods from him.

"How will I know I've found it?"

"You will; it's beautiful. Someday maybe I'll show you."

"I'd like that, if you want to someday."

She looks up at Gale. She feels like she should apologize for not having taken him there earlier, or offering to do so now. But meeting his eyes, she instantly feels relief. Gale understands, of course he would. After a moment, he says,

"My dad had these old books. He was starting to read one of them with me, and I've read the rest since. I don't talk about them with anyone. I've been meaning to show them to Rory, but for some reason, I don't want to yet. I will though. Someday."

Katniss nods and then they sit on the bench, staring out at the run down houses and the woods behind them. Though many of the trees haven't sprouted new leaves, the pines keep the horizon mostly green. If she looks above the houses of the Seam, at the blue sky meeting the mountaintops, Katniss can almost see beauty. She's not sure how long they've been sitting there when Gale says,

"I have to get going. I promised Maura I'd stop by today."

Katniss suppresses a frown. She'd been wondering if they were still seeing each other, but now that question's answered. She supposes she has no business being upset; Gale can do what he wants.

So she just nods and Gale gets up from the bench. Just as they reach the Hawthorne's back door, he touches her elbow and says,

"Thanks Catnip."

She shrugs her your welcome and he goes inside to change for Maura.

* * *

Katniss and her family remain with the Hawthornes as she continues to recover. She quickly finds that life at the Hawthornes can only be described as barely-contained chaos. Friends stream in and out of the house. Vick, Rory, and Gale wrestle around in the living room. Nearly every game Posy plays seems to require running, crashing into things, shrieking, and giggling. Gale and Rory can often be heard muttering and banging about as they make home repairs. Hazelle is constantly in motion, simultaneously working on washing, solving disputes between siblings, and minding stew simmering on the stove.

Katniss doesn't mind the commotion. In fact, she's enjoying the energy of it. As she gets her strength back, she helps Hazelle with the washing and entertains Posy. They both make excellent companions. Posy is easily excited and her sense of wonder is infectious. Hazelle sometimes makes pleasant conversation, but is often content to work in companionable silence.

When everyone comes home from school, they are all eager to tell Katniss about the day, though Hazelle insists that some studying get done. Gale leaves to hunt a bit before dusk, and Katniss helps him skin the meat when he returns. She likes that there is always something to do and someone to do it with at the Hawthornes.

But Katniss thinks it's Prim who is benefiting the most from their time with the Hawthornes. Hazelle teaches her to cook and Prim glows when she compliments her work. Posy adores Prim and constantly wants to sit on her lap or play dolls with her. Though Katniss worried that the teasing and roughhousing of three boys might be too much for Prim, it seems to have brought her sister more out of her shell. Rory teases her occasionally, and after some encouragement from Gale, Prim's now teasing back. She chases Vick around the house until she's breathless, with rosy cheeks and twinkling eyes. And Katniss can't bring herself to worry about her sister too much because Gale watches Prim like a hawk, stepping in if he thinks his siblings are bothering her too much and carefully scrutinizing the way Rory's friends behave around her.

Only Mrs. Everdeen seems unaffected by the energy at the Hawthorne's house. Two days after her fever broke, Katniss decided she ought to at least look in on her mother. She found her as catatonic as ever. Since then, Katniss continues to bring her mother breakfast and dinner, but otherwise avoids her room. She can't see any reason to go in there.

Eventually, Katniss returns to school and she and Gale recommence their hunting trips. It occurs to Katniss that her family should probably return home soon. It will be difficult to move the mattress through the Seam, so she decides to wait for the weekend. She doesn't mention her decision to anyone. Every time she thinks she ought to tell Prim, or Gale, or Hazelle, she finds a reason not to.

During dinner one Friday, she realizes she can't put it off any longer. Her stomach twists uncomfortably as Hazelle tells everyone that Prim seasoned the rabbit entirely herself.

"Ish dewishish!" Gale says through a mouthful of food. Rory snorts and Vick and Posy start giggling.

"No one will appreciate your compliments if they can't understand them, Gale," Hazelle rolls her eyes. "I did teach you not to chew with your mouth full."

Gale rolls his eyes and gulps loudly.

"It's delicious," he tells Prim.

"Thanks," she giggles.

Everyone is too busy chewing to talk at first, but eventually Hazelle asks about school. Various answers of "good," and "fine" float across the table, but Hazelle isn't that easily satisfied.

"Gale, how did your exam go today? You barely studied last night."

"It was alright," he shrugs. "It's not important, just history of Panem stuff. Nothing I'll ever need to know again."

"But you should still have studied harder," Hazelle gives a pointed look in the direction of Vick and Posy.

Gale takes a heavy breath.

"Yeah, I should study harder."

"Didn't you two also have a test a few days ago?" Hazelle turns to Rory and Prim. "Have you gotten your grades back yet?"

"Yeah," Rory swallows a bite of bread. "I got a 90 percent."

"Good," Hazelle smiles and looks over at Prim, who blushes, looks down at her plate, and says,

"It went well."

"She just doesn't want to brag," Rory says. "She got a 98 percent."

Gale whistles and Katniss squeezes Prim's shoulder. Her little sister was always the smart one.

"Good job," she says.

"That's quite a score," Hazelle beams at Prim. "We're all very proud of you."

Prim's cheeks redden and she smiles. Katniss feels her stomach twist again. It's been weeks since their mother asked Prim about school. Katniss had also been forgetting to ask. She'll be better about that from now on.

As the dinner progresses, Katniss finds herself unable to continue eating. Her stomach is in knots. Prim is doting on Posy, teasing Rory, and laughing at Vick's stories. Every time her sister smiles, Katniss feels herself tense because she knows they won't be having dinners like this anymore.

Eventually, some time after Prim teases Rory about talking to himself when he studies, Katniss can't take the feeling in her stomach any more.

"I think we'll go back home this weekend," she says. "I mean, I feel fine now, and so we shouldn't stay…"

The silence rings in her ears and Katniss can't bring herself to look up from her empty plate. It's Vick who finally speaks,

"You're leaving? This weekend?"

Katniss is about to reply when she is cut off by a load wail.

"I don't want them to go!"

Posy has gone straight past pouting, whimpering and sniffling, and seems to be gearing up for a full-scale tantrum. Katniss hears the scraping of a chair as Hazelle gets up and lifts Posy into her arms. Katniss feels her face heating up. She hadn't anticipated this. Posy is sobbing and the rest of the table is completely silent for a moment before Gale speaks.

"Katniss, let's go outside."

She doesn't need to look at his face to know he's upset, but she does need to look up to follow him out. As she gets up, her eyes briefly scan the table and she immediately wishes she hadn't. Vick looks like he wants to follow Posy's lead and dissolve into tears, Rory has his arms crossed and is staring at the ground, but worst of all is Prim's face. Her sister looks stunned, like someone pulled the ground out from under her.

Katniss looks away, grateful that Gale is demanding her attention. She doubts she's headed to a pleasant conversation, but anything is better than seeing Prim's face right now.

Gale barely waits for the door to shut behind her before he says,

"Thanks for the head's up! It's really great being informed."

"You were informed," she snaps. Perhaps it didn't go very well, but she did tell him.

"Are you kidding me? That was informing me? Informing my mom?"

"I didn't think it required a formal announcement. We're just going back home, it's not a big deal."

"Tell that to Posy! Or Vick, or even Rory! In fact, why don't you tell Prim that, because she didn't look-

"Don't! Don't you dare-

"Dare what? Point out that you made a complete mess of this! Point out that Prim's devastated because you just dropped that on her out of _fucking nowhere_!"

Katniss goes completely still. Gale's gotten angry at her before, and he's sworn in front of her plenty, but he's never spoken to her quite like this. It slams all her thoughts to a halt for a moment, and then they come tumbling back in a disorganized rush. She's vaguely aware that Gale is still talking, something about kids getting attached and sensitivity, but her thoughts are whirling around too quickly for her to sort it all out. Instead they come out in a jumbled rush, and she barely registers that she's completely interrupting him.

"It's not any of your business how I talk to Prim-and-and it's not out of nowhere. We had to go home some time. No one was gong to like this-it-it didn't matter how I did it!"

"Of course it mattered! You should have given us warning, time to let the kids adjust to what they're losing-

"Losing! We're just going back home, not to another district!"

Katniss forces her self to say the words because she wants them to be true. She doesn't want to admit it be might be bigger than that.

Gale scoffs, wrinkling his nose and letting one corner of his mouth turn upwards with disdain.

"It's not just that. They all got attached to each other. Posy got to have big sisters, and she _loved_ it. Vick and Rory did too. And you're just taking that away from them without-

"I was always going to have to leave, Gale!"

She isn't going to let him put this on her. She didn't disappoint his family. She won't let that be true.

"It had to happen! We all knew it was temporary. It's not my fault they got attached. I didn't ask for this. I didn't even ask to be brought here!"

Katniss stops and gulps. She wants to take the words back the moment they're out of her mouth, but her throat just closes up. Gale stares at her in disbelief for a moment, then he turns and takes long strides around the house towards the front yard.

"Gale-

"I'm taking a walk."

Katniss desperately wants to chase after him, tell him she didn't mean it, but she knows him better than that. He's in no state to listen to her now.

Instead, she stands in the yard, hugging her arms to her chest and taking deep breaths. She shouldn't have said that, not after everything Gale and his family did. The shame of saying something so stupid, and yet so mean, is practically burning her. She doesn't want to go back inside, where they probably heard everything. She cringes just thinking about it.

If she could run away without saying goodbye to Hawthornes she probably would, but Prim and her mother are still inside. So Katniss eventually steals herself for the inevitable and walks back in the door.

The house is surprisingly silent. Hazelle is doing dishes and Vick is asleep on the mattress in the living room. Katniss doesn't see Posy, Prim or Rory. She decides she should probably start by apologizing to Hazelle, but before she can say anything, Hazelle turns and asks,

"Where's Gale?"

"Y-you didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Oh, uhm, he's taking a walk."

Hazelle lets out a dry chuckle.

"It went that badly then?"

"Yeah," Katniss mumbles. She stands at the edge of the kitchen, fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. "I'm surprised you didn't hear us."

"Posy just stopped crying a few minutes ago."

"Oh."

"Prim and Rory are in with her. They finally got her to calm down."

Katniss supposes that's better than everyone having heard her, but not by much. She swallows and tries to find something to say-an apology, an explanation, just something. But Hazelle sets down the dish she's working on and turns toward Katniss.

"I wish you had discussed this with me first. Or at least with Gale."

"I-I know. I should have. I meant to. It was just…"

"Hard?"

Katniss nods.

"I knew Prim wouldn't want to go back home. That none of your kids would want us to leave."

"All the more reason we needed to discuss how best to break the news."

"I know. I…I'm sorry."

"It's okay, dear."

Hazelle folds Katniss up in a hug and suddenly Katniss feels the urge to cry. She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to make the urge go away. As Hazelle shushes her and rubs her back, Katniss finally realizes why this has been so difficult.

"I don't want to leave," she whispers. She feels Hazelle sigh.

"I know, dear. I know."

They're still standing like that when the front door opens. Katniss senses more than she hears Gale come to a stop a few feet away from them. She doesn't look up from Hazelle's shoulder because she isn't sure what she'll see in his face. He's probably still furious at her and the prospect is intimidating.

"Gale, go say goodnight to your sister. And tell Rory and Prim to go to bed. Then come back in here because I need to speak with you."

"Okay."

After the bedroom door shuts behind Gale, Hazelle lets Katniss go.

"I'm sorry," Katniss whispers again.

"It's okay, it is. We all make mistakes," Hazelle says. She smiles gently at Katniss and squeezes her hand. "Now get some sleep dear.

Katniss walks back to the bedroom, only slightly comforted by Hazelle's forgiveness. She still has to face Prim and Gale and she thinks they'll both be more difficult. Stepping inside the bedroom only compounds her guilt, because she's sleeping on Gale's bed and he's sleeping on a couch that's a few inches too short for him.

Katniss lies down and squeezes her eyes shut. After a few minutes she hears the softs sounds of Hazelle's voice mixing with Gale's low tone. She can't hear what they're saying, but Gale sounds frustrated and Hazelle sounds soothing. Part of Katniss wants to creep to the edge of the door and see if she can hear them better, but she knows Gale would notice her presence. Instead, she closes her eyes and tries to sleep. She's almost succeeded when she hears Hazelle's voice rise slightly.

"Prim, why you are still up, dear?"

Prim's answer is so soft that Katniss can't hear it, but it must satisfy Hazelle and Gale because Katniss doesn't hear anything else until Prim's footsteps sound outside her door.

"Katniss?" Prim whispers as she shuts the door quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Of course."

Katniss scoots to the far edge of Gale's mattress and lifts the blanket up for Prim to crawl in with her. She knows what she needs to say to her sister, but the words stay caught in her throat until Prim has climbed into bed and curled up with her back against Katniss.

"Hey Little Duck," Katniss whispers. "I'm really sorry. I should have talked to you about leaving first. It just came out all wrong. And I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Prim's voice catches. "I just don't want to leave."

"I don't either."

Prim turns and looks at her.

"You don't?"

"Of course not," Katniss sighs. "But we can't just expect the Hawthornes to take us in forever."

"I know. I just-it's…happier here. I mean, not all the time, they fight and stuff. But it feels like a home."

Katniss swallows. She really hadn't thought about giving her sister a home. She had thought about putting food on the table, trying to get her mother back to normal, keeping the roof from leaking, getting good shoes for everyone-she had thought about all kinds of things, but making a house into a home just wasn't one of them. And she wishes she was the sort of person who knew how to do that.

"I'm sorry," she whispers.

Prim crinkles her brows.

"For what?"

"For not making our house like this."

Prim shakes her head.

"Kat, it's not your fault. I don't see how you could do any better than your doing."

Katniss isn't entirely sure that's true. But Prim has closed her eyes and snuggled into the blankets, so Katniss doesn't argue. Instead, she closes her eyes and tries to remember what it was like when her father was alive, when she had a real family. It takes her awhile to conjure up his image, it's getting blurrier in her mind. But she pictures it eventually, and when she does finally sleep, she dreams of him coming home from work and having family dinners.


	11. Chapter 11

_Hi guys, sorry about the long wait again. I don't even have a good explanation this time. This chapter just took awhile. It is nice and long though, so hopefully that makes up for it a bit. _

_i like it: I wasn't offended by your previous review. It wasn't rude and you're totally entitled to tell me you thought something was repetitive. Really, no apology necessary. I think if you want a fanfiction account you should get one, especially because some authors don't allow anonymous reviews. _

_Mooglez: Thanks for all your reviews. I'm glad you liked Gale's frustration, because he gets cranky again in this chapter. Poor guy, Katniss can be difficult. _

_Ellenka: This chapter should help your heart recover, it's got nothing too heavy. And thanks for recommending this on Tumblr. _

_Thank you all again for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I was a little more unsure about it since it has Haymitch and a little bit of craziness in the last section of the chapter, but hopefully it's fun craziness. Also, I did proofread, but feel free to tell me if you catch any typos. This was a long one, so I think I'm more likely to have missed something.  
_

* * *

When Katniss wakes up the next morning, Prim is still fast asleep. Katniss rolls to the other side of the bed and gingerly lifts herself to the floor. Prim stirs, but doesn't wake up, and Katniss tip toes across the room and changes into her clothes.

She can feel a slight bubbling in her stomach as she considers what she might face outside the bedroom door. Is Gale still angry? Are his siblings still upset? She takes a deep breath and steps from the bedroom into the Hawthorne's living room.

Her anxiety was for nothing though, because no one else seems to be awake. The kitchen is empty and Vick and Rory are asleep on the mattress in the living room. Gale is snoring lightly on the couch with his feet dangling off the edge.

Katniss isn't sure what she ought to do. She had expected Gale to be awake, but she supposes he and Hazelle could have been talking late into the night. She decides to let him sleep and hunt without him. It's probably the least she can do. She retrieves her game bag from a hook near the front door and heads towards the woods.

Hunting isn't the same without Gale, but she's managing well enough. She's shot a few squirrels and is about to begin checking the snare line when she senses a presence. At first she tenses, but a feeling of familiarity overtakes her just as Gale steps out of the trees.

"Hey Catnip."

He cocks his head to the side and offers her a small smile. Katniss releases the breath she was holding and feels her muscles relax. He can't be too angry if he's greeting her like that.

"Hey."

She sets her game bag down and turns to look at Gale. He's already eyeing one of his snares and raising the level of the noose so it's higher in the tree. Katniss waits for him to finish, tugging at the hem of her shirt, until he looks back at her.

"I didn't mean what I said last night," she says quietly.

"I know," Gale sighs. "I know. You just lost your temper because I lost mine."

"But it was my fault!"

"Who cares?"

Katniss feels slightly indignant because she cares, and she doesn't want him to dismiss her apology.

"It's alright, Catnip," he says. He meets her eyes and she knows he's not dismissing her apology, just letting her know he's not angry anymore. It always amazes her that Gale, who can stay so angry for so long, always forgives her quickly. She gives him a small smile, and he returns it before they walk over to the next snare.

As they approach it, he glances sideways at her and says,

"Is that why you didn't wake me up this morning? You thought I'd still be mad?"

"Yeah. That and I figured you were up late talking with your mother."

They finish checking the snare line and start walking towards the Hawthorne's house. They're a few feet away when Gale touches Katniss's elbow.

"Uh, my mom and I want to talk to you about something…and you might not-just, just keep an open mind, okay?"

"What?" Katniss narrows her eyes and stares at Gale. He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head.

"It-no, she'll explain it better. I just-it's important. So promise me you'll actually think about it."

Katniss is still frowning, but she nods her head. If it's that important to Gale, she'll listen to it. Whatever it is.

Hazelle barely sees them enter the house before she insists that Prim and Rory take the younger kids outside to play. Then she sets apples, bread, and glasses of water on the table.

"Eat up," she tells them, gesturing towards the chairs.

Once they're all seated, Hazelle and Gale exchange a meaningful glance. Katniss starts to get irritated. She wants them to hurry up and say whatever it is they're planning to say.

Hazelle takes a sip of water and clears her throat.

"Katniss, it's going to be very hard on the younger children when you and your family leave," she says, looking Katniss square in the eyes. "And I don't think anyone at this table is looking forward to it either. Would you agree?"

Katniss nods slowly and tears herself a slice of bread.

"If you could, would you stay with us longer?"

Katniss drops the slice of bread. They want her to stay. This is what Gale was softening her up for, trying to get her to accept yet more charity. She's about to say she won't stay, wouldn't ever stay, but Gale cuts her off.

"You promised to hear us out."

His voice is low and he's staring at her intently. Katniss shoots him a glare and folds her arms.

"Last night you said you didn't want to leave," Hazelle says gently. "And we don't want you to leave either. I don't want you to have to take care of yourself, your mother, and Prim all on you own. I'm sure you can manage it, but I don't see how it could be good for you or Prim."

Katniss looks down. It's not good for Prim. It's lonely, painful, and exhausting. But that doesn't mean she should impose on anyone else.

"If you stay here, you'll have help. And your mother might benefit from having more people around. We can all try spending some time with her, seeing if we can bring her back. It's easier for everyone if we're all together."

Katniss is about to object. She doesn't see how it's easier for the Hawthornes, but Hazelle has clearly anticipated her concerns.

"It_ is_ easier for us too. It's been great having two extra pairs of hands to help with chores and watch over Vick and Posy. And the food you and Gale bring in goes farther as one, big meal. It's good for the boys to have young women around, and it's certainly nice for me. And Posy loves having big sisters," Hazelle pauses for a moment. "Katniss, I mean this. We want you to stay until your mother gets well. Life is better for all of us when you're all here."

Katniss can't think of anything to say at first. She's torn between fear that this is still charity, and the light, hopeful feeling she gets at the prospect of staying with the Hawthornes longer.

"It's not charity," Gale says and his face gives no sign of a lie.

"But-

"But what? We both bring food in. You and Prim help out. What are we giving away?"

Katniss struggles to put a finger on it, then she sees the mattress on the living room floor and it all comes to her.

"Your space! You're giving away room in your house!"

"Maybe, but it's still a good trade," he says. "I give up a little privacy and space, which I'm not particularly used to having anyway, and in exchange I get a happier family."

She raises her eyebrows.

"I mean it, Katniss. My family is the happiest they've been in years. You know the kids love you and Prim. And my mom and I aren't so bone-tired now that you guys are here to help. Do you know how much of a difference it makes having someone else to help with cooking or play with Vick and Posy? Things are better with you guys here. They just are."

Katniss leans back in the chair and takes a deep breath. She's out of arguments, of reasons why they shouldn't stay. In fact, the only thing holding her back is a sense of disbelief, which keeps her from accepting that something this good could happen to her.

"What if you get sick of us?" she whispers.

"I get sick of him all the time," Hazelle says, jerking her head at Gale. "But we manage. I said you were like family, and I meant that."

"Promise?" Katniss looks at Gale.

"I promise."

She can trust Gale's promises, so she nods her head and let's out a breath.

"Okay. We'll stay."

* * *

Katniss is a little bit surprised when nothing dramatic follows her decision. Instead, things just carry on almost exactly the way they were before she suggested leaving. They rearrange the rooms a bit. Prim and her mother sleep on a mattress crammed into the room that Posy and Hazelle share. Katniss volunteers to sleep on the couch so Gale can return to his bed, and Rory and Vick can move their mattress back into the bedroom. It saves a lot of space in the living room and Katniss actually fits on the couch.

She and Gale continue to hunt, and the meat does stretch farther when it all goes towards one meal. She helps Hazelle with chores, plays with Vick and Posy, and joins Rory in teasing Gale. Prim and Rory often work on their homework together and Prim is getting to know all of Rory's friends. Posy absolutely adores Prim, who never seems to run out of patience with playing dolls.

Her mother remains the same, but Katniss can't bring herself to care. She brings her mother meals, but no longer even bothers speaking. As far as Katniss can see, there's no reason to. What she says doesn't seem to matter. Even when she said Prim was dying her mother didn't respond, so Katniss doesn't see why she'd respond to pointless pleasantries. Besides, she's finally managed to bury all the emotions she feels towards her mother and she's afraid varying her routine would bring them to the surface again.

So she's not the least bit upset when Gale knocks on the door just after she's set her mother's breakfast down.

"Oh-uhm-was I interrupting?" he says when she answers the door.

"No."

"Well, I'm heading to Abernathy's to work on the fence, but you can just meet me later if you want-

"No, I can go now."

She shuts the door to the bedroom and grabs her jacket off one of the Hawthorne's hooks. Gale steps past her to open the front door and they head out towards the Victor's Village.

As they draw closer, Katniss asks Gale what Haymitch is like. Her only encounter with him was when he gave her alcohol for the wounded miners.

"He's…I'm not sure how to describe him exactly. He's a smartass. Actually, he's kind of an asshole, but I think there's more to him. He's definitely smarter than he let's on," Gale wrinkles his nose and shrugs. "I dunno. That's about all I can tell you."

"Do you think he was trying to help us, or just wanted his fence redone?"

"I wasn't sure until I showed up at his house. That's when I saw his fence was never painted and had pieces that had been broken for ages. He obviously doesn't give a shit about it and hasn't for years. So I don't think it's a coincidence that he decided to start caring about the fence right when I needed money."

"He gave me alcohol for the miners too. Don't know why he did that either."

"Guilt," Gale says. "He feels bad living with so much when the rest of us have so little. Although, he clearly doesn't feel guilty enough to use the money he spends on alcohol to buy food for kids or something. Ripper says the amount of money he spends on booze each week could feed a family for just as long."

"Gross."

Katniss grimaces, trying to imagine how any one could possibly waste so much money on something with no nutritional value.

"I don't get alcohol," she tells Gale. "Expensive, not good for you, and it doesn't taste good."

"You've had it?"

"Just a few sips my mother had left over from a patient. It was gross."

"Oh, well if you only had a few sips you wouldn't get the appeal. Getting drunk is fun. Not worth the expense, but fun."

"You've done it?"

"Just twice. Once when Thom's brother invited us to hang out with him and some other miners. And once when I was with Tia Hemlock, who stole it from her dad. "

"So it is fun?"

Gale nods.

"Yeah, it makes the little stuff that worries you go away. And things seem funnier and you're just…not afraid of anything. Then you wake up with a helluva headache the next day."

"Hm," Katniss considers this. "I guess it might be nice not to worry about things for a little while."

"Exactly, which is why I don't mind drinking if someone else buys."

They both laugh and turn the corner into the Victor's Village. When they reach Haymitch's house, Katniss scans the fence briefly. There's still plenty of work left to do.

They step onto the front porch and Gale raps on the door. Haymitch takes so long to answer that Katniss is starting wonder if he's even home when he finally pulls open the door and squints into the sunlight.

"We're here to do the fence," Gale says. "Katniss will work with me today too, if that's okay?"

"Why the hell wouldn't it be?"

Katniss watches Gale fight to keep his expression neutral. Then she feels Haymitch's eyes on her.

"So you're better now?"

"Yes, thank you for-

"Well good. The kid was gonna lose it if you didn't recover."

Gale scowls and Katniss can feel his shoulders his tense. She can see why Haymitch doesn't seem to have any friends. She doesn't appreciate being interrupted when she's trying to thank someone. She's bad enough of at it anyway.

"What I was _going _to say, was-

Haymitch opens his mouth and Katniss just raises her voice.

"Was thank you for buying the medicine."

"Yeah, your welcome," Haymitch grunts, looking uncomfortable. This gives Katniss some sort of satisfaction, so she says,

"It was a nice thing to do-

"It wasn't to be nice. It was to get my fence fixed," Haymitch snaps. "That's what you're here to do, isn't it? So get to it."

He shuts the door in their faces and Gale starts laughing.

"You two really hit it off."

Katniss scowls.

"He's rude."

"No shit."

Gale smirks at her again and starts heading from the porch towards the fence. As Katniss approaches the fence she can see exactly how far Gale has gotten in fixing it. He's about halfway through the front yard, and each rail and fence section he's worked on is standing straight. A few sections of the fence have also been replaced with new wood. This part of the fence stands in stark contrast to the areas that haven't gotten Gale's attention. There, parts of the wood are rotting, rails are loose from the fence posts, and some sections even appear to be missing.

Gale sets down his hunting bag and tells Katniss to get out the tools while he goes to retrieve wood from Haymitch's back porch. Katniss does as she's told and inspects the saw, hammers, and shovels Gale brought. He returns eventually with two-by-fours and nails, and they set to work.

They cooperate as seamlessly on the fence as they do hunting, though Katniss looks to Gale for guidance more than she does when they're in the woods. He explains how to brace fence rails with smaller pieces of wood and how to repair broken pieces by nailing wood between them. Katniss works a bit ahead of him, making the repairs she feels comfortable with and leaving trickier pieces for him. Every now and again he asks her to hold something steady or make sure pieces are perfectly lined up.

They've nearly finished the front yard when Katniss sees a blonde boy with a large bag making his way towards the house. When he reaches the edge of the property, Katniss recognizes Peeta Mellark, the baker's youngest son who gave her bread all those years ago. She hasn't spoken to him since, though she's caught him staring at her a few times at school.

He stops at the edge of Haymitch's yard and gives them a wave before walking towards the front porch. He doesn't wait for them to wave back, and it's a probably a good thing, because she's too unsure to wave and Gale just frowns briefly before going back to the wood he's hammering.

Katniss pauses in her work to watch Haymitch answer the door, take the bag from Peeta, and give him money in exchange. When Peeta turns around to start heading back, she makes sure to be busy reinforcing a fence plank. By the time she looks up again, Peeta is gone and Haymitch is striding towards them, bag in hand.

"Goes a lot faster with two," he says.

Gale looks up, wipes his brow, and nods.

"Here," Haymitch fishes into the bag and pulls out two packages. "Lunch."

"You don't have to do that," Gale says. "We can just break and come back after we eat."

"This is easier. Consider it part of your pay."

"But-

"This job is worth more than the medicine, kid. Some food here and there makes us even. Assuming you still agree to paint the thing."

"I said I would, didn't I?"

"Don't get your skirt in a twist, no one was accusing you of going back on your word."

Gale aims his scowl at the sandwiches in Haymitch's hands.

"Do you have a problem with turkey?"

Katniss exchanges a glance with Gale before they both shake their heads and take the sandwiches. Haymitch guffaws.

"You two are like twins separated at birth."

Katniss feels herself bristling and she can tell Gale is too. She and Gale are _like _family, but they're not _actually _family. If Gale were really her brother his unconditional affection for her wouldn't mean quite so much. It would be required, not something she'd earned.

"We're not-

"Touchy today aren't we?" Haymitch smirks at Gale.

"No, you're just more irritating than usual," Gale snaps. The moment it's out of his mouth Katniss sees Gale tense. She's never heard him talk to a customer like that, though Haymitch is probably one of the more obnoxious people they've dealt with. Katniss wonders if they've overstepped some line, but Haymitch just laughs again.

"If that bothers you then you have a mighty thin skin."

"He does not," Katniss snaps. She's not sure what exactly Haymitch meant, but Gale's as tough as anyone she knows.

"Cute," Haymitch smirks at her.

Katniss turns red, but the word "cute" seems to have riled Gale up because he's grinding his teeth.

"Well, I won't impose on your quality time together anymore."

Haymitch gives them a mocking salute and turns back towards the house.

"He's an idiot," Katniss mutters when Haymitch is out of earshot. Gale nods his agreement, grabs a hammer, and bangs viciously on a piece of two by four. Though Katniss has no problem enjoying her turkey sandwich, she's never had a sandwich from the bakery before, Gale doesn't touch his until he's had the chance to vent his frustration on a few more nails.

When the sun starts to set, Gale moves supplies back to Haymitch's porch and Katniss packs up his tools. They leave Haymitch's house without saying goodbye and arrive at the Hawthorne's just in time for dinner.

* * *

Thom knocks on the door not long after everyone has finished supper. He waves a hello to Katniss, who is doing dishes, and then spends a good fifteen minutes assuring Hazelle that he is indeed surviving the community home.

"You hanging out with Maura tonight?" he finally asks Gale.

"No, it's her dad's birthday so she's staying at home."

"Well, some of the guys are rustling up a poker game."

"Sounds good. I'll get my coat and we'll go."

"Gale," Hazelle raises her eyebrows and looks over at Katniss. "Shouldn't you invite Katniss? She shouldn't have to sit at home now that she's feeling better."

Gale and Thom both look distinctly uncomfortable at the idea and Katniss opens her mouth to begin making her excuses. She's not going to follow Gale around where she's not wanted.

"Is there a problem?" Hazelle props a hand on her hip. "Is there something about this poker game that isn't fit for Katniss? Because if that's the case, then maybe you shouldn't be going either."

"No, no."

Thom and Gale both shake their heads vigorously.

"Well then, Katniss why don't you go get changed and go with them?"

"I-uhm…I don't usually go out."

It wasn't a lie. Katniss doesn't think she's ever gone out on a Saturday night.

"All the more reason you should, dear," Hazelle says. "Go on."

She shoos Katniss towards the bedroom and Katniss vaguely wonders what on earth she's supposed to be doing anyway. Normally she would have just grabbed her hunting jacket off the hook and followed Gale out the door, but Hazelle seems to think she should change.

Katniss opens the dresser drawer and sorts through her clothes. She's not sure what she ought to change into. A dress would be too fancy, but clearly her hunting clothes weren't right. Katniss purses her lips and tries to think about what other girls wear. Eventually she pulls out a tighter pair of pants and a blouse she hasn't worn in ages. It was her mother's and Katniss has always thought the fabric was too flimsy for the woods. Besides, the lower neckline struck her as impractical, though it would hardly matter tonight.

When she's dressed, she appraises her self in the mirror and decides she looks a little bit nicer than usual. She ought to do something with her hair, but she has no idea what. So she settles for re-braiding it and letting a few pieces fall around her face. She isn't sure what exactly Hazelle expected, but this will have to do.

When she steps back into the kitchen, Hazelle smiles approvingly at her.

"You look ready," she says.

Gale glances back at her and Katniss sees his eyes travel up her body. She thinks they linger for just a moment on her hips and the neckline of her shirt. But his glance is so quick, she figures she must have imagined it.

"Let's go then," he says, motioning towards the door. Thom looks meaningfully at Gale, who just shakes his head and opens the door.

They remain silent as they walk down the dirt roads of the Seam. Katniss can see Gale and Thom exchange glances periodically, and finally she decides to confront the tension her presence seems to have brought.

"Look, since you guys clearly don't want me here, maybe I can just go hang out-

"It's not that we don't want you," Gale says. "It's just that the poker game is kind of…a guy's thing."

"So, I'll be the only girl?"

"No exactly," Thom looks back at Gale. "But the other girls that come are usually, uhm…they're…"

"Sluts," Gale supplies.

"What's so slutty about playing poker?" Katniss asks. She's never played, but she had thought it was just a card game.

"It's not the game," Gale says. "It's the wagers. None of us have money to gamble, but you have to do something to keep it interesting. So whenever someone runs out of chips, they have to do something."

"Like what?"

"Well, I ran naked through the merchant district a year ago," Gale rubs the back of his neck. "I've kissed plenty of girls I wouldn't have otherwise, I've broken into song in the middle of class, uhm…let's see…"

"You asked the banker's wife to the slag heap and she actually said yes."

Katniss gasps and Thom starts laughing.

"What did you do?"

"Well, I just sort of stared at her for a minute. Then she told me when to pick her up and I, uh, never showed."

Thom is practically howling with laughter.

"I still think that counts as you backing out," he says.

"She was fucking married," Gale grumbles. "It's not like any of us actually thought I'd take her to the slag heap."

Katniss is finding the whole idea plenty amusing until an unpleasant thought occurs to her.

"So what kinds of things do the girls do?"

Thom and Gale both wince.

"Uhm, well," Thom chews his lip. "It's mostly guys coming up with the wagers so you can imagine…"

Katniss doesn't have much imagination when it comes to these things, so Gale spells it out for her.

"They take off clothes, fool around with guys, that kind of thing."

"Oh no," Katniss stops walking. "Gale-Gale-that-I can't…"

"I know," he says. "I'm trying to think of something."

"I'll…"

Katniss considers going back, but then she realizes that puts Gale in a tight spot. Hazelle will want to know why she left and Katniss can't think of anything she could say that would make sense and still keep Gale out of trouble.

"You're just not going to play," Gale says eventually. "We'll tell the guys you don't know how to play, which is true, so you're just going to be on my team and watch for the night."

"They won't mind?"

"I don't give a fuck what they mind."

"I'm sure it'll be fine anyway," Thom adds. "It's not like we promised to bring girls or something."

They fall silent and Katniss ponders the situation waiting for her. She'll just have to leave the game if anyone objects to Gale's plan. If not, she supposes it won't be so bad. It might be funny to see what happens to the losers.

They arrive at the edge of the Seam, not far from the electric fence. Thom opens the door to an abandoned house and Katniss and Gale follow him inside. There are three guys and two girls talking loudly, laughing, and counting out stacks of poker chips. There's no furniture, so they've elected to sit on the wood floor of what was once a living room. They shout hellos at Gale and Thom, and Katniss sees many of their eyes widen as she steps out from behind Gale.

"This is Katniss," he says. "She's never played before, so she'll just kinda watch and be my partner."

The guys in the group exchange a few glances and shrugs.

"Whatever," one of them says.

Gale and Thom move to sit down and Katniss settles herself between them.

The girl sitting across from her looks very familiar. Katniss thinks she may be a year ahead of her in school. When she sees Katniss staring, she smiles and says,

"I'm Ansley. This is Jasie, Brandt, Ty, and Kee."

They all offer waves when she says their names and Katniss smiles tentatively back.

"Poker's not too hard," Ansley says, flicking her dark hair behind her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it real fast."

"I don't know about that," Brandt says. "It's easy to play, but hard to win."

"He's right," Gale says. "So listen up while I explain the rules."

As everyone finishes dividing chips, Gale explains the different poker hands, when betting occurs, and the concept of bluffing.

"You can't make faces when you see my cards," he tells her. "Otherwise you'll give me away. So stay neutral."

Katniss can do this easily enough and she feels a slight tug of excitement as Brandt starts dealing the first hand. Gale's initial hand, however, is nothing to get excited about. He ends up with only a pair of tens and pulls out early to avoid losing too many chips. Ansley wins the hand with a straight.

As the game goes on, Katniss decides Gale is far better suited to poker than she is. While Katniss would have played in a straightforward manner, betting when she had good cards and folding when she didn't, Gale's far less predictable. Sometimes he'll bluff and other times he'll downplay good cards to lure his opponents in to betting more.

Katniss thinks his approach would be far less successful if she were actually playing. She can easily tell that many of his facial expressions are forced, and it doesn't take her long to notice his true tells. Gale's eyes get slightly wider when he thinks he has good cards, he squints almost imperceptibly when he's unsure how to play a hand, and his breathing gets shallower when he bluffs, just like it does when he's nervous about a sound in the woods.

It all seems perfectly obvious to Katniss, but no one else seems to catch it. Ty even remarks that Katniss is just like Gale, because neither of them so much as blink when they see the cards. She nearly bites her tongue to keep from correcting him, but he doesn't notice that either.

Kee is the first to go out and it's decided that he has to ask out a girl named Arya Jennings. The penalty doesn't seem too harsh to Katniss, but it quickly becomes clear that Kee is beside himself about it. He starts protesting immediately, saying he can't do it because it would "ruin everything."

"Everything?" Thom snorts. "You've barely spoken to her."

"But he's spoken so much _about_ her," Gale quips.

Kee sends a rude gesture Gale's way.

"Oh come on," Gale says. "We're doing you a favor here. She can't say yes if you never ask her."

"I'm working on it. I have a plan, but this is not part of it."

"A plan, really? I didn't know blushing and stuttering whenever she walked by counted as a plan," Brandt says.

Every one is laughing now, even Katniss. Despite Kee's protests, the rest of the group doesn't budge and eventually the game recommences.

Jascie goes out next and Katniss is almost nervous for her as her penalty is determined. Just like Gale and Thom predicted, all the suggestions seem to be somewhat sexual. Brandt suggests she spend the rest of the evening naked and Jascie blanches. Katniss doesn't have a whole lot of sympathy for her, what did she think she was getting herself into? But Gale must, because he objects to the idea.

"Too stiff a penalty," he says. "I was the first one out when I had to go naked through the merchant's quarter. She wasn't first out so it shouldn't be that bad."

"It's not," Brandt snorts. "It's not in front of half the town, it's just us."

"Yeah, well that's probably more people than saw me. It was the middle of the night when I ran through there, no one was awake."

"Fine, top off. And quit being a fucking prude, Hawthorne."

Gale rolls his eyes and looks like he's on the verge of saying something else, but Jascie stands up, pulls off her shirt, and tosses it at Brandt's head.

"You're cute to worry about me, Gale," she says. "But I've got no problem showing these off."

She cups her breasts and Katniss averts her eyes. Had the girl lost her mind? But the rest of the room is laughing, except for Gale and Thom, who both shoot apprehensive glances in Katniss's direction. She doesn't meet their eyes because the whole thing makes her feel so absurdly awkward.

'Why on earth does Gale_ do_ this?' she asks herself, but then she hits upon the obvious answer. 'He probably likes seeing girls half naked when you're not around.'

In fact, not probably, definitely. It's not like he keeps Maura dressed at the slag heap. He'd probably be having a great time staring at Jascie's chest if Katniss wasn't sitting right next to him, blushing and trying not to literally squirm with discomfort.

"Okay?" Gale whispers, halting her train of thought.

"Fine," she snaps.

He looks like he wants to say something, but Ansley is already dealing. She ends up losing next and it's decided that she has to make out with the winner of the next hand, who turns out to be Ty. She climbs onto his lap and brings his mouth to hers without any sign of the embarrassment Katniss is feeling just from watching. And the kiss goes on, and on, and on and Katniss can't believe how long she has to stare at the ground to keep from watching. Brandt's catcalling and whistling and everyone else is laughing. Even Gale just shakes his head, chuckles, and starts shuffling the cards.

When Ansley finally pulls away, she springs off Ty's lap, gives him a wink, and then sits back down like she didn't just suck his face for the last few minutes. Katniss thinks this is why she doesn't have more friends. All the girls her age are clearly insane, or perhaps she's just hopelessly prude. Katniss decides it's probably some combination of the two.

Ty is out next and it's decided that he has to ask Tia Hemlock out three times in one day, using a terrible pick-up line each time. One of the other players has to be present for each attempt to ensure Ty does indeed deliver each line with a straight face.

Now it's down to Gale, Thom and Brandt, and Katniss can actually feel her stomach tensing as each card is dealt. Poker's new to her, but Katniss does have a competitive streak and she's rooting for Gale.

Unfortunately, luck isn't on is his side. For every good hand he had earlier in the game, he seems to be getting three terrible hands now. Though he's not dumb enough to keep betting with his bad cards, the blinds and antes are slowly diminishing his pile of chips.

Finally, his luck seems to return and he's able to get a flush. Katniss feels slightly giddy when he goes all in to make up for the series of bad hands he had previously. It's just him and Thom still betting, and finally they both reveal their cards.

"Straight flush," Thom says, just as Gale sees it and starts swearing.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Gale shakes his head and pushes his chips towards Thom.

"So Katniss and Gale are out," Brandt says. "What are we going to do with them?"

Them? She wasn't playing. She looks over at Gale, eyes wide, but he's already speaking.

"Katniss wasn't playing, so just me," he says, but Ansley's speaking louder.

"They should kiss!" she declares.

Katniss's jaw drops. Kiss. Kiss Gale. That's-she-they don't _do_ that. She can't kiss Gale, just the thought is making her stomach swoop and her breath quicken. It's not that she would mind, well maybe she would, but maybe not. He _is _handsome.

Her head is spinning and her face is heating up. She hasn't kept track of anything else that's been said, but Gale's raised voice brings her back to reality.

"That wasn't the deal! She was on my team. She wasn't playing. She doesn't do anything!"

"She was on _your_ team, so when you lose, she loses," Brandt says. "It's no fun if people can just beg off when they lose."

"No one's begging off because they lost, she never played to begin with!"

"Besides, he can't do it anyway," Thom adds. "He's dating Maura."

"Well then Katniss can kiss you, you won the hand," Ansley suggests. "We'll find something else for Gale."

"No, Katniss isn't doing a damn thing!" Gale has stood up now and his whole body is tensed. Katniss nearly groans when Brandt stands up too, and Thom follows suit. This is quickly getting out of hand.

"You never said she wasn't going to do anything, just that she'd play on your team-

"I said she wasn't fucking playing, so you can't go whoring her out!"

"Whoring? It's a kiss, Hawthorne! What are you, her fucking dad?"

Katniss bristles. Gale certainly isn't her dad. Her dad is dead and she doesn't appreciate Brandt mentioning it.

Gale's mouth is slightly open and he seems to be taking a moment to decide how he wants to respond. Judging by the look on his face, Katniss thinks he may very well decide to respond by taking a swing at Brandt.

"It's okay," she says, touching his arm.

"It's not okay, we had agreed-

"It's just a kiss," Katniss says. And it is. She'll give Thom a quick kiss, as short as the ones she gives Prim on the top of her head, and be done with it. She doesn't find the idea particularly appealing, but she doesn't find it unappealing either. It's better than Gale starting a fight, that's for sure.

Gale clenches his jaw and starts to shake his head. Now she's just irritated with him. This is ridicules. And embarrassing. And stupid. She's not going to be responsible for ruining the poker game, or causing a fight between Gale and these guys. At least not if all she has to do is give Thom a quick kiss. If she had to kiss him like Ansley kissed Ty that would be one thing, but she can handle this. She doesn't need Gale creating a scene.

So Katniss turns and plants herself in front of Thom. He just looks at her with his mouth slightly agape and darts a glance toward Gale. Katniss isn't entirely sure how to go about doing this and she crosses her arms as Thom continues to stare at her.

"Well?" she taps her foot. Couldn't he at least lean towards her? She can't help but think kissing Gale would have been easier. She would have been able to read his body and just know what to do.

Thom looks over at Gale again and Katniss makes a point of not following his gaze. She doesn't need to look at Gale to know he's livid. He's standing just to her other side and practically radiating heat.

"We're supposed to kiss aren't we?" she asks him. "So do it already."

Thom's eyes go wide and everyone starts laughing, well everyone except Gale.

"O-okay," Thom says.

He leans towards her, places his hand at her waist, and slowly bends. Katniss's eyes close, though she doesn't think she consciously decided to shut them. Then she feels a slight pressure against her lips, which lasts for just a moment, before it's over and Thom drops his hand from her waist.

Katniss blinks, trying to decide if she felt anything. So that was it? That was kissing. It didn't really feel like much of anything, certainly not worth all that fuss. Maybe she did it wrong. Blushing, she turns away from Thom because she couldn't even begin to look at him right now. She drops quickly back to her seat.

"See, nobody died Hawthorne," Brandt smirks. Gale opens his mouth to reply, but Kee cuts him off.

"Let's just figure out what Gale's gonna do."

That proves difficult, as his relationship with Maura makes the usual wagers impossible. Eventually, Ty suggests that he ask his teacher, Mr. McGrath, to accompany him and Maura to the slag heap.

"I'm sure Maura won't get mad about that one," Ansley says. "It's obviously some kind of joke and you can tell her afterwards. She'd be crazy to get mad."

Katniss almost says that Maura is crazy, but she bites her tongue. It's probably not a good time to push Gale's buttons. He doesn't really answer Ansley, just shrugs and goes back to glaring at the wall.

His mood doesn't improve for the rest of the game, although Katniss thinks she is the only person who cares. Everyone else is talking, laughing, and debating whether Thom, Ty or Brandt will come out victorious.

When Brandt finally wins, Gale gets up and says Hazelle wants him and Katniss back early. Katniss knows Hazelle made no such request, but she doesn't particularly want to stay anyway. To her surprise, Thom also leaves with them.

The walk back home is decidedly tense. Katniss isn't sure where to look. She's still too embarrassed to look at Thom, and Gale is making a point of not looking at either of them. So she settles for staring straight ahead and walking quickly. The sooner they get home and this night is over, the better.

When they arrive at the Hawthornes, Gale gives a wave in Thom's general direction and is halfway up the walkway before Katniss can even formulate a goodbye. So she gives Thom a quick wave and is about to go back inside, when he touches her arm.

"Katniss wait."

She stops. Ahead of her, she sees Gale's body stiffen as he stops outside the front door.

"I'm sorry about tonight," Thom says. "I never meant to put you in an awkward spot. I didn't think they'd be so difficult about you not playing. Actually, I didn't even think you'd come, so…uhm, I'm just sorry."

Katniss forces herself to look up at Thom. If he can talk to her than she ought to be able to muster up the courage to look at him.

"It's not your fault," she says. "It just worked out badly. And, uhm, sorry about kissing you or whatever."

She looks down again, but then Thom laughs. It's not an unkind laugh, more of a light, disarming chuckle.

"That was no big deal," he says. "You just did what you had to do to keep Gale from losing it."

"I wasn't going to lose it," Gale snaps from the porch.

"You absolutely were," Katniss rolls her eyes and turns to Thom. "Is he always this grumpy when he loses?"

Thom laughs loudly this time and Gale gives an exasperated snort.

"Actually," he shoots Gale a look. "He's not usually."

Gale scowls, but Thom just shrugs.

"Later guys."

He waves and heads down the road towards the community home. Katniss walks over to Gale, waiting for him to open the front door. He sighs and looks down at her,

"I'm sorry about all that too."

"It's okay. You didn't want me to come in the first place-

"Don't you see why?"

"Of course. I just meant that it's not your fault since you didn't even want it to happen in the first place."

"I know, I just…" he frowns for a moment. "Was that your first kiss?"

Katniss is caught off guard with the question. She hadn't thought of it before, but she supposes it was. She nods and Gale sighs.

"Sorry."

"Why? What's that got to do with anything?"

"I always thought girls wanted their first kiss to be romantic or something."

Katniss scoffs.

"You should know I'm not like that."

"I should," Gale concedes. "I just…I wasn't sure if maybe you'd feel differently once you were actually kissed."

Katniss rolls her eyes.

"It wasn't even a real kiss anyway. It was just to shut every body up and keep you from being an idiot. I'm not going to get all stupid over it."

Gale looks exasperated for a moment, but then he just shakes his head and smiles.

"Okay, Catnip."

He opens the door and they both step inside. Hazelle is the only one awake and when she asks them how the night was, Katniss thinks she's smirking.

"You're home earlier than usual," she adds.

Gale mumbles something about it being fine and Katniss has to suppress a laugh.

"Oh wonderful," Hazelle says. "Maybe you'll all play again next week."

Gale looks like he's choked on something and Katniss does laugh out loud this time.

"Is something wrong, dear?" Hazelle asks. When Gale shakes his head, Hazelle continues.

"Your father used to play poker too when he was your age. He never did want me to play. He was quite upset when I showed up uninvited one night, although I did realize why eventually."

Gale gulps and Katniss wonders if they're about to get into trouble.

"He didn't play after I came, said the game lost some of its appeal. But that was a long time ago, I'm sure you all play differently now days," Hazelle smiles. "I'm off to bed."

She heads into her bedroom and when the door shuts behind her, Gale shakes his head.

"And here I was thinking she just wanted to make sure you weren't feeling left out on a Saturday night. I really need to stop underestimating her."

"I wonder if she'll tell us what happened when she played that game with your father?" Katniss grins as Gale pales.

"They-that-I'm going to bed."

Feeling quite clever, Katniss watches Gale stomp off to his room and turns to maker her bed on the couch. As she tosses blankets on it, she considers her first kiss. It wasn't bad. It wasn't good either though, and she wonders if she was supposed to feel something different. Would she have felt something different if she had kissed someone else? What if she _had _kissed Gale?

For just a moment, she pictures Gale's hand on her waist, his eyes dancing as he leans in to her, and the feel of his lips brushing hers. Her stomach twists and she doesn't breathe for a moment. Then she shakes herself, irritated at her mind for wandering somewhere so absurd, and buries her face in the couch to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

_Hey guys, here's the next chapter. _

_ILI: Glad you're enjoying it. And yeah, Katniss took some steps, but she's definitely not entirely aware of what she feels towards Gale. I'm not sure if Peeta will be in this much, but I figured he would be the one delivering sandwiches. This is just before the 74th Hunger Games. In a few chapters we'll get to that reaping.  
_

_Ellenka: Glad you enjoyed Haymitch and the lighter chapter. Don't ever apologize for reviewing, even if is night reviewing.I love all reviews :)  
_

_Bloodredfirefly: Thank you so much for that wonderful review! It was so long and it totally made my day. I re-read it like six times because it made me so happy. I'm glad you said that bit about how poverty makes things fall apart like dominoes because that's what I was going for when I was writing it. Thank you again, it was a lovely review. _

_To everyone wondering when Gale and Katniss will kiss/get together: Not for awhile. They'll progress in that direction and they'll kiss before they really get together, but it's going to take awhile. For one thing, Katniss is not really focused on that and is often totally oblivious to it, also they have a lot of other stuff to deal with. Besides, you need the build up for it to be any fun when they do get together. _

_Anyway, thank you all again for reading, reviewing, following, etc. I really do appreciate it, it makes writing so much more rewarding.  
_

* * *

Over the next two weeks, life at the Hawthornes continues in a similar rhythm. Mrs. Everdeen remains closed off. Prim and Hazelle are working much harder to change that than Katniss is, but she quashes any guilt by remembering her mother's reaction to Prim's illness. Her time is better spent hunting with Gale and helping Hazelle, rather than dealing with a mother who abandons her children when they need her most.

So while Prim and Hazelle try to talk to her mother or convince her to go outside, Katniss leaves the room and entertains Posy or does some of the washing. When she's not helping around the house, Katniss continues to hunt with Gale, their cooperation as seamless as ever.

Of course life at the Hawthornes isn't perfect. Posy demands a lot of attention, and with three doting brother she's used to getting it. Gale gets bossy, causing arguments with Hazelle and Rory. And for reasons no one seems to understand, Vick is acting out. He gets caught hiding Posy's toys in his room, hiding Gale's hammer under his bed, and even attempting to steal a set of old jacks from a neighbor boy. Gale and Hazelle are livid and Vick spends the better part of a week scrubbing the house as a punishment.

Gale and Katniss continue to work on Haymitch's fence, but to their irritation he takes to sitting out on his porch, watching them work while he drinks. Sometimes he interrupts to tease them, usually provoking sarcasm or insults. But he doesn't seem to mind, he just guffaws loudly and stumbles back to his porch chair. Haymitch does still feed them lunch though, so neither Katniss nor Gale stays upset for long.

One Sunday afternoon, Katniss and Hazelle are working on washing in the living room when a knock sounds at the door. Hazelle leaves to answer it, and a few minutes later she's leading Maura into the house.

"I'll go out back and get Gale," Hazelle says. "He and Rory are fixing the back windows."

Maura nods and Hazelle turns to Katniss.

"Katniss, dear, can you go get the sheets from your mother and Prim's bed?"

Katniss agrees, eager for a reason to leave the room with Maura. She hasn't really seen her since Prim was ill. Katniss has the distinct impression Gale has been trying to keep them as far apart as possible and she's perfectly fine with that plan.

Hazelle shuts the door behind her and Katniss is about to walk away when Maura says,

"Hazelle's washing your family's sheets?"

"Yeah, we're washing all the sheets today."

Katniss thinks the question is rather idiotic and she's about to keep walking when Maura speaks again.

"Wait? You do the washing together?"

"Of course."

"You-you're still staying here?"

Katniss nods. She hears the door swing shut and feels some relief. Gale will be here in a moment. But before she can escape Maura narrows her eyes and asks,

"When are you leaving?"

"Uhm…we…"

Katniss isn't sure what to say. She doesn't know when they're leaving and it's beginning to occur to her that Maura was completely unaware of their living arrangement.

"She's not leaving."

Gale has walked inside with Hazelle close behind him.

"Not leaving?"

Maura is gaping at him and even Hazelle raises her eyebrows.

"The Everdeens are living with us for awhile."

"Awhile?"

"However long is necessary."

"Necessary for what?"

Gale presses his lips together, clearly not wanting to discuss Katniss's family problems.

"Until my mom is better," Katniss says.

"What's wrong with her?"

Katniss doesn't know how to answer that. She's not about to fill Maura Amesworth in on her mother's condition.

"That's private, Maura," Gale snaps.

"So-so they're just staying here indefinitely? All of them? That—it-it's crazy! You can't! I mean you can't all fit!"

"It's three more people. We fit fine."

Katniss can sense Gale's growing irritation and she looks around nervously before Hazelle catches her eye. Hazelle gathers up some of the wet laundry and jerks her head towards the back door. Katniss scrambles to pick up the remaining laundry and starts to make for the door.

"So you're sharing a bedroom with another girl?"

"Of course not! Don't be stupid," Gale fights to keep his voice low. "This isn't a big deal."

"Really, Gale? It isn't a big deal? You didn't need to tell me? You didn't need to run it by me first?"

Hazelle's raises her brows again and Katniss actually cringes. Gale won't take well to the implication he should have run his household decisions by someone other than Hazelle.

"No. It's not your business. It's _my_ family and _my_ house."

Katniss shakes her head as she follows Hazelle down the hallway towards the back door.

"Go ahead and hang up the laundry." Hazelle says as she opens the door. "I'm going to make sure he remembers it's_ my_ house and I have certain expectations for how he speaks to any woman he brings into it."

Katniss swallows, takes the laundry, and bolts for the yard. She has no desire to be nearby when Hazelle checks Gale's temper and Maura continues to argue with him.

"Whoa there."

Katniss nearly crashes into Rory.

"In a hurry much?" he smiles.

"Yeah, actually. Gale and Maura are having a fight."

"Here?"

Katniss nods.

Rory lets out a low whistle.

"She must have really pushed his buttons. I know they fight a lot, but he's got to be pissed to do it here."

"They fight a lot?"

"Yep," Rory smirks. "They fight and they fuck, and that's pretty much it."

"Rory!"

He shrugs, completely unapologetic. Katniss tries to fight a blush as she imagines what Rory's just said.

"I can't figure it out," he shrugs again. "I mean she's hot and all, but they're terrible together. They were last time too."

"Why?" The questions is out before Katniss can think better of asking. Rory cocks his head to the side as he considers it.

"Well, with Gale you have to know when to stop and let him blow off steam. But I think she just keeps right on arguing, right on pushing. And it's always about asking him to do more. To see her more, to pay more attention to her. And Gale just doesn't have more, not of anything."

Katniss is rather impressed. She isn't sure when Rory got so wise about his brother's relationship, but he certainly has it more figured out than she does. But then Gale's relationships make her uncomfortable so she deliberately ignores them.

"Does he tell you all that?" Katniss asks, still impressed.

"Not in so many words, but I can read between the lines," Rory smiles. "I don't think we'll have to put up with her for much longer. She'll put him over the edge soon and he'll get so angry he won't care anymore."

"Yeah, but he gets over being angry."

"Not with most people."

Katniss considers this. She and Gale have never had an argument that lasted longer than a day or two. When she looks at Rory again he's scrutinizing her.

"He gets over things with you because you don't fight with him about stupid stuff," Rory says.

Katniss gapes at him for a moment, wondering yet again when little Rory Hawthorne got so perceptive.

"You guys understand each other, so even when he's mad at you, a part of him always gets where you're coming from. But Maura whines about him not spending enough time with her, or hunting too much-

"But he has to do that. He has to take care of you all."

Rory smirks.

"Like I said, you two understand each other."

Katniss doesn't think there is anything to understand. That ought to be straight forward enough. She's about to say as much, but Rory is walking away, chuckling to himself as he goes.

Katniss shakes her head and then begins hanging laundry, trying to take as much time as possible so she won't have to witness the argument inside. Unfortunately, that strategy backfires because Gale and Maura move their argument outside.

"You're unbelievable! You're just kicking me out of the house-

"Oh come on Maura, I said_ we_ should go outside and stop arguing in front of my mom!"

"Well, we wouldn't be arguing at all if you could be honest-

"I am honest! No one lied-

"Fine, you just omitted!"

"You never asked!"

Katniss hangs the last of the laundry and runs inside.

"Are they still arguing out there?" Hazelle asks when Katniss has shut the door behind her. Katniss nods and Hazelle scowls.

"Hopefully, the neighbors don't hear them," she shakes her head. "Let's get these sheets washed. Rory, I need you to sweep both bedroom floors."

Katniss joins Hazelle in front of the wash tub and Rory grumbles as he gets the broom. For a moment there is nothing but the sound of them working, then Katniss hears more shouting. She can't quite make out what's being said, but she can hear Gale and Maura going back and forth.

"Oh that's it," Hazelle tosses a sheet in the water. "The whole town is going to hear them. He is _not _going to carry on like this."

She strides towards the front door, but before she can open it, Gale bursts inside. He's slightly short of breath and his whole body is tensed, but Katniss can't make out is expression because he takes one look at Hazelle then drops his eyes to the floor.

"There you are!" Hazelle plants herself in front of him, both hands on her hips. "You absolutely cannot behave like that. Shouting for everyone to hear! You just can't-

"It won't happen again."

"It most certainly won't, because if-

"Because she dumped me."

Hazelle's mouth drops opens, swallowing a breath.

"_She_ dumped _you_?"

"That's what I said," Gale is still staring at the ground.

"Oh, Gale," Hazelle reaches up and hugs him.

"Don't worry," Rory says. "She'll try and get back together with you tomorrow, just like always."

"No," Gale shakes his head as he pulls out of Hazelle's embrace. "I don't think she will this time."

The room is silent for a moment before Gale adds,

"And even if she does, I won't say yes."

There's a finality in his tone and Katniss knows she's seen the last of Maura.

"Well if you don't want to be with her anyway, then why are you so upset?" Rory asks.

"I'm not."

"Seriously?"

Rory stops sweeping and leans against the broom, fixing Gale with a patronizing look.

"I just have to think about stuff," Gale grumbles. Without another word, he stalks across the room and into his bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind him.

"Well, that was…unexpected," Hazelle says as she eyes the bedroom door.

"Yeah, I didn't think he'd really care when it ended," Rory said.

"Hush," Hazelle glares at him. "See if you can't find it in you to be more sympathetic when he comes back out."

But Gale doesn't come back out of his room until dinner, and even then he doesn't seem to be really present. He doesn't talk much and stares at his food more than he eats it.

Katniss studies him, trying to catch his eye and get a read on him, but he seems to be purposefully avoiding her gaze. At first Katniss worries he's angry at her because her presence started the argument with Maura, but he's not exhibiting any of his usual signs of anger and Katniss certainly knows those well enough. Instead, he seems lost in thought, like something is weighing heavily on him.

He goes outside after dinner and Katniss looks out the window to find him sitting on the bench his father made and absently scuffing his foot in the grass. He stays outside long after the sun goes down. Hazelle glances out the window occasionally, but otherwise acts as though nothing is out of the ordinary.

All the younger children go to bed. Though Katniss feels like she ought to wait up for Gale, she eventually makes her bed on the couch as well. He comes in soon after she's settled under her blanket.

"Hey," he says softly to Hazelle. "Sorry I was…out."

"It's alright. You're allowed some time to yourself every now and then."

Katniss hears Gale scoff softly.

"You are," Hazelle scolds in a whisper. "Anyway, how are you?"

"Alright."

"You don't seem it."

Gale gives a low chuckle.

"I am though. I'm not even really sad about it, it was never going to last forever."

"Then why the brooding?"

"I'm not brooding. I'm…figuring some things out."

"Sounds an awful lot like brooding to me," Hazelle whispers. Katniss can practically hear her smirk. "If you're not upset, then what do you have to figure out?"

"Stuff," Gale grumbles. He pauses for a moment before he speaks again "When she ended it, Maura said a lot of stuff about me. Most of it was ridicules, but mixed in were some things that might be true."

"Like?"

Gale remains silent.

"Fine, don't talk to your mother."

"Ma, come on. I just want time to think it through myself."

"Alright, dear. Just…you're really okay?"

"I am. I promise."

"Okay, then I'm off to bed. Goodnight, dear."

"Goodnight."

Katniss hears rustling as they embrace and Hazelle walks toward the bedroom. The wall shifts as Gale leans against it. When the door is shut behind Hazelle, he sighs. Katniss hears him cross the room towards the couch and she rolls to face the cushions, tangling her blanket halfway down her back. Though the air is cold on her shoulders, she doesn't dare move for fear that Gale will realize she's been awake and eavesdropping.

She hears his feet come to a stop near the edge of the couch and feels him looking at her. Everything is perfectly still for a moment, and then Gale reaches out and lifts her blanket, tucking it gently over her shoulders. If she weren't trying so hard to feign sleep, she would have sighed at the feeling of warmth covering her cold back. But she keeps her breathing even and Gale steps back from the couch. He stands still for a moment, then sighs and walks towards his bedroom. Katniss stays completely still, fearing that if she moves she will lose the inexplicable warm, comfortable feeling that's settled over her.

* * *

Over the next few days, Gale acts slightly strangely. It's nothing dramatic. In fact, Katniss would say it's almost imperceptible, but she's used to noticing even the subtlest shifts in Gale's mood. So she notices that he's a bit quieter than usual, is lost in thought more often, and is slightly unfocused in his hunting. Most unsettling, at least for her, is that she often catches him looking at her and then looking away again.

For a few days, she lets it go. She's never had a relationship, let alone been dumped, so she figures she doesn't really know how a person ought to behave afterwards. But soon his reaction starts to grate on her because it just doesn't make any sense. She would understand if he were angry, everyone at school is talking about him and speculating about why Maura dumped him. She would even understand if he seemed sad, though she wouldn't really have said Maura was worth a whole lot of sadness. But he doesn't seem to be particularly emotional at all, just contemplative. And it's driving her close to crazy because she can't figure out what he's contemplating and she's never had this much trouble reading Gale.

"Will you just stop it!"

Her voice comes out harsher than she meant for it to, but he's done it again. They were walking towards the fence after a morning of hunting, and he'd looked at her, and then looked away again, and this time she can't take it any more.

Gale stops walking and raises his eyebrows.

"Stop what?"

"Looking at me, and then not looking at me, and-and having your head in the clouds. And being so damn quiet."

"Uhm..."Gale's mouth is slightly open and his eyes are wider than usual. Katniss starts to feel guilty.

"Look, I'm sorry about Maura, really I am," she stops talking and thinks for a moment. "Or-well-I'm sorry if you're upset about it. But I really don't know why you have to be so weird. She isn't worth this much emotion."

That thought gives Katniss another idea.

"Is that it? Do you want me to reassure you she's not worth it? Tell you how she was crazy for ending it, and you'll do better than her, and all that other stuff people say when their friends get dumped. Is that what you want?"

Gale throws his head back and starts laughing. Katniss glares at him because she doesn't see what's so amusing.

"What?" she snaps.

Gale chuckles for another minute before he replies.

"Good to know you're here for me," he snickers. "If I want some forced sympathy, I'll be sure to let you know."

"It's not forced! I mean it! She's annoying and you can do better."

"Is that so?"

"Of course," Katniss rolls her eyes at him. "All the girls at school are going crazy because you're available again. You can probably have any girl you want."

"Any girl, huh?"

Gale turns and looks her straight in the eye and Katniss can't decipher his expression. His face seems playful and he's smiling, but there's something guarded behind his eyes. And he's looking at her so intently she feels heat creeping up her chest.

"Well, I mean-you know-I...you know what I mean."

She finishes in a huff and looks away from him, but she can feel him watching her. He stays silent for a moment and she gets the feeling he's studying her again.

"I'm not sure I do know what you mean," he says at last. "Do you just mean I can do better than Maura, or do_ you _really think I'm a catch?"

"Both," she says, before she's fully considered the implications of what she's saying. Her entire face heats up as she realizes how that one word could be construed. "I mean-well, _everyone _thinks that you're a 'catch' or whatever."

Gale's raises his eyebrows so high they're threatening to disappear under his hair.

"I didn't know you paid attention to any of that," he says finally.

"I don't," she snaps. "I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. I'm just saying people think it."

He looks at her carefully again and she glares back at him.

"Stop staring at me."

"Okay, sorry," he waves his hands up in submission. "I was just thinking."

"Well, you've been doing a lot of it lately, and I don't see why it has to involve looking at me."

"It doesn't," he snaps. "I'm just not paying attention. Sorry. I didn't realize looking at you was so damn offensive."

"It's not offensive! It's just…different. And I don't-I don't know. I just want you to go back to normal."

Gale lets out an exasperated sigh and she watches him shake his head out of the corner of her eye.

"Fine. I'm sorry," he says at last. "I'll pull it together, okay?"

"Okay."

An uncomfortable guilt twists in her stomach and she looks at the ground. They keep walking in silence and it occurs to Katniss that she may be the worst friend in all of Panem.

"I'm not trying to say you can't be upset about it," she says to the dirt. "I guess we can talk about her or something, if you want."

"I don't," he says. "I'm fine. Just forget about it, okay Catnip?"

She looks up at him and he's giving her an easy smile. She can see the hint of something else brewing beneath it, but she knows he doesn't actually want her to see that part. So she gives him a small smile and says,

"Okay."

"Good, so, I'm thinking we need to do some shopping today," he says. "We're running low on some things. I know we need matches and salt, have you noticed anything else?"

Katniss accepts his redirection and they finish the walk out of the woods talking easily about what they need and how best to trade for it.


	13. Chapter 13

_Alright, so I'm definitely feeling a little sheepish about this chapter. It was all sweet, romantic, and angsty, and then Katiss got a dirty mind and this chapter happened. I hope you all don't mind. _

_bohobo: You're back! Yay! I love your reviews. And you get more Haymitch being Haymitch in this chapter. _

_Mooglez: I can't answer any of your questions about the teaser or it wouldn't be much of a teaser, would it :) I'm glad you don't mind the slowness, but Katniss finally discovers her hormones in this chapter so we're getting closer to Galeniss. _

_FortuneFaded2012: Thank you, it's so wonderful to have you compliment my work because I enjoy reading yours so much. And Hazelle is the best. I don't think she gets enough appreciation. _

_KingAlanI: Thank you so much for the corrections! Really, I need them because I reread so much that I inevitably miss things because I know what it's supposed to look like. _

_Ellenka: I'm glad you appreciated Maura, because she is an actual person, who unfortunately fell for a guy whose heart belongs to someone else. And even though she didn't always behave well, I think that kind of jealousy brings out the worst in most of us and I had some sympathy for her because I know what she was feeling. _

_Niam2816: I should have been clearer when I said no games. What I meant was Katniss doesn't go compete in the Hunger Games, which is obviously a major departure from canon that I felt compelled to warn people about. There is still an annual reaping and all that though. _

_Thank you again to everyone who is reading, reviewing, and favoriting. It really does mean a lot to me and makes this writing so much more fun. It also keeps me from slacking off and not finishing what I start. So, thank you all very, very much._

* * *

For the most part, Gale's behavior returns to normal. He looks at her normally and seems more focused on their hunting. There is still something slightly different that Katniss can't quite put her finger on. It's in the way he steps in front of her if there's a strange noise in the woods and in the way he narrows his eyes if men at the Hob get too close to her. But these differences are so barely noticeable that Katniss sometimes thinks she's imagining things.

The weather finally starts to grow warm and it's mostly a welcome change, but it does make Katniss far more aware of the fact that she's living with boys. Gale, Rory, and Vick seem to think shirts are unnecessary first thing in the morning, around bath time, and when working outside. Rory also finds them particularly unnecessary around Prim. He'll be perfectly content fixing the roof with a shirt on, then Prim will come outside and suddenly the garment becomes oppressively hot. It's far too awkward to be remotely seductive, and one afternoon, the shirt actually gets stuck over Rory's head and Katniss and Gale are forced to escape inside to laugh.

"He's terrible," Gale says, gasping for air between laughs. "I was never that awkward."

Katniss rolls her eyes. "I'm sure you were."

"No way. Name a time when I was even _close_ to that bad."

"Well never around me, but I'm sure you were. I'd have to ask a girl who's…" Katniss trails off, trying to describe the sort of girl Gale flirts with. "Who's, you know, gorgeous or something."

Gale frowns and suddenly the playful mood has vanished.

"Catnip, I-it's not like that. It's just-we were never-

"I know. I didn't mean it like that," Katniss can feel herself starting to turn red and she wishes she'd never said anything. "I just meant I wouldn't know if you were as bad as Rory. But I bet you were, I mean who else would be his role model?"

And she's proud of herself, because she's effectively navigated them out of the strange territory where Gale feels compelled to tell her she's pretty, as if she even holds a candle to girls like Tia Hemlock or Maura Amesworth. Instead, Gale is glaring at her with mock indignation.

"I refuse to accept responsibility for his completely awkward flirting, if you can even call it that."

"I don't know, but I'm blaming you."

"And if he's successful do I get credit then, too?"

That thought sobers Katniss.

"What do you mean successful? Gale, they wouldn't-they can't-

"Relax Catnip," Gale smirks at her. "Prim is as oblivious to men as you are. And Rory is way too hopeless to change that."

"I am not…" Katniss trails off. She realizes Gale might have a point. "I'm not oblivious, I just have more important things to think about."

Gale rolls his eyes.

"That's no excuse. I think about plenty of important things and still manage to notice women."

"Yeah, and it's really worked out well for you."

Gale tips his head back and laughs.

"Touche," he says. "But come on, you can't tell me you've never even noticed a guy is attractive."

"I don't know. I thought I was oblivious to men."

Katniss smirks at him, pleased with herself for so deftly avoiding the issue. But when Gale smirks back at her, Katniss thinks she might not be as oblivious as she'd like.

"Catnip?"

She stops staring at his mouth. She feels her face heating up, though she can't for the life of her explain why.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I don't have to."

She spins on her heels and walks quickly towards the door so Gale can't see her blush.

"And just-just tell your brother to keep his shirt on."

* * *

After that conversation, Katniss really begins to notice when Gale doesn't wear a shirt. Whenever she catches a glimpse of the bronze of his skin, her eyes latch onto him, unable to move away. She tells herself she only notices because he's so clearly very strong, and that's a useful trait. But then she finds her eyes following the muscles of his stomach and the trail of hair that leads beneath his shorts. It makes her stomach swoop and her whole body heat up.

Thankfully, Gale hasn't caught her staring, because she would die of embarrassment if he did. He would probably think she's developed some stupid crush on him and that's certainly not the case. Just because she's noticed he's attractive doesn't mean she's attracted _to_ him.

And she's busy fighting the attraction anyway. She tries to ignore the giddiness she gets when his shirt is off or the desire she has to study his chest. In fact there's a part of her that gets irritable every time she sees his bare skin because she knows that means she's going to have to fight a losing battle to ignore the lines of his muscles. But while that small part of her gets irritable, most of her is giddy at the prospect of working outside with him or catching him walking to his room after a bath. The whole thing leaves her beyond frustrated with herself, but she can't seem to control it.

The feeling is at it's worst when they work on Haymitch's fence. It's hours and hours for her to notice everything from the way sweat glistens off his collarbone to the muscles on his back flexing as he works. It's a wonder she gets anything done at all.

The morning of her sixteenth birthday is no exception. It's a warm day and the sun is beating down on them. Gale barely puts his tools down before he yanks his shirt over his head. Katniss would envy his ability to do that if she weren't so busy trying not to stare at him.

Instead, she forces herself to be fascinated by choosing which tools to work with and where on the fence to start.

"I still wish you'd just stayed home today," Gale appears silently at her side and Katniss feels impossibly hot. His bare skin is right next to her and he reaches an arm in front of her to grab for a hammer.

"You should take a break on your birthday," he says.

Katniss snorts.

"When did birthdays ever mean breaks?"

"Since we live together," Gale says. "Since there's enough people to share the work. Rory could have come today."

"I've told you, I don't ever do anything for my birthday."

Gale sighs and shakes his head, but he lets the matter drop. Instead he gathers up a few pieces of two-by-four and make his way over to a fence post that needs to be braced.

They work steadily through the morning and Katniss mostly manages to avoid looking at Gale and stay focused on the fence. When the sun is high overhead, he nudges her.

"Lunch," he says, jerking his head towards Haymitch, who is accepting money from Peeta Mellark. "I want you to have my fruit. It's your birthday and-

"No!" Katniss rolls her eyes, annoyed at Gale for being so relentless about this stupid birthday. "You deserve it as much as I do."

"Which is why I eat it every other day, but today is different."

"Not really."

"Oh come on! Of course it-

"What are you two bickering about now?" Haymitch has approached them with lunch bags in hand.

Katniss isn't going to answer, but to her surprise, Gale does.

"Katniss is trying to pretend it's not her birthday."

"Birthday huh?"

"Yep. She's sixteen."

"Well isn't that just thrilling."

Gale rolls his eyes at Haymitch and takes the lunch bag from his hand.

"You're eating the extra fruit," Gale says as he pulls it out of the bag. "Or it's going to waste."

Haymitch starts laughing loudly, rolling his eyes at Gale as he does so. Katniss feels inexplicably defensive and Gale narrows his eyes.

"So you're arguing about fruit?" Haymitch snorts. "Really important that is."

"It is important," Gale snaps. "Or have you gotten so comfortable you've forgotten how important food is for the rest of us."

Haymitch scowls at him and Gale scowls right back.

"I haven't forgotten. I just know there's bigger things to worry about than filling your belly."

Gale snorts.

"Only someone who's never hungry would say something so stupid. If you're really worried about starving, there's nothing, _nothing_ bigger than food."

"Shows what you know."

"I know enough. I know I wouldn't mock people for caring about food while I spend enough on alcohol to feed half the damn Seam. I wouldn't drink away the money I could use to give people what they need."

Haymitch looks like he's on the verge of hitting Gale, but instead he throws him another look of disgust and shakes his head.

"They need more than food," he says, voice harsh and derisive. "You think if I run around handing out meals that's going to solve the problems here? You don't understand shit."

"What's to understand? You're the only victor in this goddamn district and you don't do a fucking thing. You won the Hunger Games, you could-

"No one wins the Hunger Games!"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means the Games never end. The Capitol is never done with you!" Haymitch hisses, pushing his face close to Gale's. "You think they just send you back to your district to live peacefully? Are you really that naïve?"

Katniss looks over at Gale, and for a moment he looks just as puzzled as she is, but then something clicks into place.

"So the Games don't end," he says slowly. "What-what do they make you do?"

"Beyond guiding two kids to their deaths?"

Katniss feels her stomach clench at the thought, but Haymitch continues.

"You do whatever they want you to do, or there are consequences. Not just for you, but for your friends, your family, anyone who was ever close to you."

It suddenly dawns on Katniss that she's never seen Haymitch's family and he doesn't seem to have any friends. Gale must be realizing the same thing because he takes a step back and doesn't speak for a long time.

"Then why?" he asks finally, voice far less harsh. "Why do you let them do this? Why don't the victors band together, lead the districts in a rebellion-

"Quiet!" Haymitch hisses. Gale glances around them, and seeing no one, opens his mouth to continue.

"The Capitol is too strong," Haymitch says. "They can crush a rebellion from the districts."

"So we just let them kill us all slowly instead?"

Katniss suppresses a groan. She hates when Gale gets like this, full of rage and unrealistic ideas. It's dangerous, especially outside of the woods, though she knows Haymitch is probably alright.

"If-if it's not what it seems, if the victors are unhappy too, then maybe there would be enough momentum to-

"To get a bunch of people killed?" Haymitch snorts.

"Maybe not! Maybe it could work. I'd like to try. Hell, I'd like to walk right up to President Snow and break his fucking-

"Gale! Stop!" Katniss shoves him.

"She's right, kid. Talking like that isn't just dangerous for you. It could get your whole family killed, and her too."

Gale shuts his mouth, grinding his teeth together. He takes a deep breath before he turns from them and stares at the fence. Katniss watches him relax his hands and shake his head before walking over to the fence and going back to work.

She looks back at Haymitch and realizes he's watching Gale too, and it's not so much watching as studying. It makes Katniss uneasy because it's almost like he's sizing Gale up. And it occurs to her then that Haymitch doesn't seem the least bit drunk. In fact, he hasn't seemed drunk at any point during the conversation. Katniss looks over at the porch and finds the usual bottle resting on the railing.

"Thirsty, sweetheart?" Haymitch follows her gaze and smirks.

"Sweetheart?" Katniss narrows her eyes.

"Just an expression. Doesn't particularly suit you."

Katniss scowls at the nickname and then looks back at the bottle. Her instincts are telling her something is off and she wishes she could observe Haymitch more. But that's not going to happen, so she does the next best thing.

"How many of those bottles do you go through a day?" she asks.

"Enough."

"Why do you drink so much?"

"Why do you ask such stupid questions?"

Katniss resists the urge to roll her eyes.

"I ask because I'm curious. Now, why do you drink so much?"

"Because it's fun. Care to try it?"

Katniss feels her eyes get large and she's completely startled. No one has ever offered her alcohol and she's intrigued in spite of herself. Though she doesn't hear him leave the fence, she suddenly feels Gale's presence beside her and the tension he's carrying in his shoulders.

"If you're trying to take advantage of her-

Haymitch snorts.

"I like them older, prettier, and with some meat on their bones."

Gale looks indignant, but Katniss couldn't care less if Haymitch finds her attractive. In fact, she'd prefer that he didn't.

"No one is trying to take advantage of your girlfriend."

Gale and Katniss both open their mouths, but Haymitch speaks over them.

"I saw her eying the bottle and figured I'd share in honor of her birthday. But, if you're not interested, that's just more for me."

Katniss has to admit the idea appeals to her. Sure, there's work to be done on the fence, but if Haymitch cared he wouldn't be offering. And she is curious about alcohol. Maybe it will help Gale forget about revolutions and start enjoying the day again. She glances over at him, eyes asking what he thinks, and he gives her a small smile and shrugs.

"I want some," she decides. "It is my birthday."

Haymitch chuckles and motions them inside. Katniss has never seen the inside of a house in the victor's village. It looks nothing like a home in the Seam. Katniss thinks only the mayor's house is fancier. There are high ceilings, a brick fireplace, and molding on walls near the ceiling. It was probably beautiful at one point, but Haymitch doesn't seem to take any better care of his house than he does his fence. The floor is scuffed and dirty, a smell emanates from the kitchen, and most of the furniture has dust. Empty bottles are scattered on almost every available surface and Katniss thinks she sees bits of spider webs in a few corners.

Haymitch picks empty bottles up off the table and takes them into the kitchen. He returns with three glasses and two bottles of alcohol.

"Take a seat," he gestures to the kitchen table. Katniss and Gale exchange a glance and then drop into chairs.

"Ever had any alcohol?"

"A few sips," Katniss says.

"You?" Haymitch looks at Gale.

"I've had some."

"More than a few sips?"

"Enough to get drunk."

Haymitch laughs and opens a bottle. He pours generously into two of the glasses and pushes one towards Gale. He only fills the third glass halfway up and hands it to Katniss.

"I suggest taking a big gulp and swallowing it fast," he tells her. "The taste takes some getting used to."

Katniss eyes the glass warily for a moment, then grabs it and takes a large swallow. The liquid burns immediately and Katniss freezes, not wanting to swallow something so bitter. She feels her eyes water.

"Swallow," Gale tells her.

Katniss forces the drink down her throat and feels it burn all the way down to her stomach. She screws up her face, wondering if she's going to be sick, but the feeling passes. When she opens her eyes, both Haymitch and Gale are doubled over in silent fits of laughter.

"What?" she glares at them. Haymitch guffaws loudly and takes a drink.

"Your face," Gale says, barely able to breathe through his laughter. "You just held it in your mouth and made faces."

"It was gross!"

"We told you to swallow it quick," Gale says.

Katniss glares at him.

"You do it then, if you're so great at it!"

Gale shrugs and takes a gulp of his drink. His eyes narrow, but he gives no reaction beyond that. He takes another gulp and then smirks at her. Irritated, Katniss decides it can't possibly be that bad, not if Gale barely seems to taste it. She stares resolutely at her glass and then takes another drink, careful to swallow it as quickly as she can manage.

Both Haymitch and Gale start laughing again and Katniss realizes her eyes are screwed shut and she must have made another face. She opens her mouth to snap at them.

"Catnip," Gale smiles. "Don't get all upset. It takes some getting used to."

"Catnip?" Haymitch snorts. "You have pet names-

"Oh shut up already."

The words just tumble out of Katniss's mouth though she isn't really angry. It's the same tone she uses to tease Rory and Gale. Haymitch doesn't seem to mind, he just keeps laughing and finishes off his drink.

Katniss looks back at Gale and sees that he's nearly finished his glass. He smirks at her again as he takes another sip. Katniss glares at her own glass. She doesn't like to be outdone. Steeling herself for the bitterness, she lets out a breath and takes another gulp. She tries to keep her face more neutral and Gale clearly notices her effort.

"Better," he says, trying to keep his lips from stretching into a smile.

Eventually, Katniss manages to finish her glass and Haymitch is about to pour her another when a beeping noise sounds from somewhere in the kitchen. Haymitch swears and gets up from the table.

"Hello?" Katniss hears him. "Yeah, hold on."

He comes back into the kitchen carrying a small rectangular object and it takes Katniss a moment to realize it's a phone. The only one she's ever seen is attached to the wall at the principal's office at school. She didn't know they made phones that could be moved from the wall.

"You two have to clear out," Haymitch tells them. "You can take this and forget about the fence for today."

He hands them the bottle of alcohol and Katniss opens her mouth to protest.

"Call it a birthday present. Now get on out."

He waves them towards the door, but Katniss and Gale just gape at him.

"Go on! Out!"

Haymitch shoves the bottle in Gale's hand and pushes him towards the door. Katniss finds herself wishing she could watch Haymitch and see what it was like to talk on a phone. She doesn't move until Gale puts a hand on her arm and starts guiding her towards the door. Once outside, they both stand on the porch gaping at each other for a moment.

"He's out of his mind," Gale says, but Katniss is more focused on the phone.

"Do you think they have phones in other districts? I bet they do. Definitely in the Capitol. I wonder if the Capitol was calling him."

"Who knows," Gale shrugs.

They walk into the yard and then begin packing up Gale's tools. Katniss tries to decide if she feels any different having finished her first drink. She's more content than usual, but beyond that she doesn't really notice anything different.

"What are we going to do with it?" Katniss gestures at the alcohol as Gale puts in his bag.

"We drink it. It's your birthday present after all."

Gale tosses her a grin and Katniss feels herself grin back.

"Your mom won't mind?"

Gale laughs.

"Mind? She'd kill us. We'll have to go somewhere else."

"The woods?"

"That's what I was thinking."

They walk to the hole in the fence and make their way into the woods. When they reach their rock and sit down, Gale pulls the bottle out of his bag and smiles at her.

"Happy birthday, Catnip," he says, holding it out to her. She smiles back and takes another sip. She doesn't bother trying to keep her face neutral as the liquid burns her throat. Gale shakes his head and chuckles at her.

"I still think it tastes gross," she tells him.

"It does."

He takes the bottle, tips his head back, and takes a large gulp. Katniss can't believe he makes it looks so effortless. Surely she can drink just as well. When he hands her the bottle, she mimics his movement and tilts her head back to take a long drink. She nearly gags, but somehow manages to swallow.

"You make it look terrible," Gale laughs. "If you hate it that much, we don't have to drink it."

"I want to though. I want to know what it's like to be drunk and I may never get another chance."

"'Fair enough."

They pass the bottle back and forth for a few more minutes before Katniss starts to feel light and even giggly. Gale must feel it to because he's laughing more and his eyes look less alert, even a little glassy.

"How can you tell when you're drunk?" she asks him.

"Depends how drunk you are. When you're just a little drunk, it's kinda subtle. You just feel light-headed and happy. But when you're really drunk, you get dizzy, can't figure things out, that sorta thing."

"That's when people stumble around?"

"Yeah. One time, when Tia and I were drinking, I actually rolled off the couch when I was trying to kiss her."

Katniss knows Gale meant it to be funny, but for some reason she doesn't want to imagine him drinking with Tia Hemlock. Or kissing her and…and everything else they probably did. Fortunately, she doesn't know enough about all that to really imagine it. The realization makes her feel childish and stupid.

Gale turns and looks at her.

"You feeling okay?"

She nods, suddenly aware of just how close together they are when they're sitting on their rock. His elbow is brushing hers, and when he turns to look at her, their faces are just inches apart.

Katniss stands up and paces around the meadow. Gale watches her, forehead crinkled. After a bit of pacing, she forgets why she was getting so anxious. The sun is warm on her shoulders and the meadow is beautiful and green out in front of her. Looking at it leaves her completely soothed.

Gale comes beside her, offering her the bottle of alcohol and surveying the meadow as she drinks from it. He eventually sits down on the grass, drawing his knees in and resting his arms on them. When Katniss settles herself down beside him and hands him the bottle, he gives her a wide smile.

"Perfect isn't it?" he says.

"It is."

They keep passing the bottle back and forth, laughing easily once again. Katniss feels her senses dulling, but she's too giddy to mind. She watches Gale tilt his head back and take another gulp before handing her the bottle. The alcohol barely seems to burn her throat anymore and she giggles when she sets the bottle down in front of him again. He doesn't reach for it right away; instead, he leans back on his elbows and tilts his face towards the sun. Katniss feels her eyes traveling from his hands, up his forearms, and stopping to admire the curve of his arm muscles. She studies his face, noting the slight blush on his cheeks and the way his lips part. Then, she blurts out the first thing that comes to her mind.

"Gale, what's so great about sex anyway?"

"What?" he sputters, looking back at her with wide eyes.

"I said," she repeats slowly. "What is so great about sex? What's all the fuss about?"

"It's fun."

Katniss rolls her eyes.

" I know, but _why_ is it fun?"

Gale's face turns red and he rubs the back of his neck. He takes another long drink before he finally says,

"It feels good."

Katniss knows that too, but she can't imagine how something that seems so awkward could feel good. So good, in fact, that people gamble with the possibility of an unexpected mouth to feed or another loved one in the reaping bowl. She wants to know how on earth anything could feel that good.

"Gale," she fixes him with a resolute stare. "I know it feels good. I want to why or _how_ it feels so good."

"I don't know!" he sighs in exasperation. "It's hard to explain, it just…it…it's like what you do to yourself, only better, a lot better."

"What you do to yourself?"

"Yeah…" he looks up at her and then his mouth sort of hangs open. "You-you don't-you've never…"

"Never what?"

He doesn't say anything, just keeps gaping at her before turning even redder and looking away.

"Never what, Gale?"

"You know…touched yourself."

He gestures vaguely with his hand. Maybe it's the alcohol, it does make her mind feel sluggish, but Katniss has no idea what he's talking about.

"Touched myself? Where?"

"Where do you think?"

Gale gazes pointedly at the space between her legs. Katniss suddenly realizes what he's getting at. Her face heats up and she crosses her legs. Gale starts to chuckle.

"People do that?

"Yes, Catnip," he smirks.

"Do _you_ do that?"

"Sure. And you should too."

Katniss's face is positively burning and she can't even look at him.

"Gale!" she hisses, narrowing her eyes at him quickly before dropping her gaze back to the grass.

"What? You're probably the only teenager in Panem who doesn't. You're missing out."

"I—that-I can't do _that_!"

"Oh come on," he laughs. "You don't want to go through life never knowing what it feels like to come."

Katniss gasps and springs to her feet so quickly she's almost dizzy. She thinks her whole body has probably turned red and she can't process her thoughts. Her heart is racing and when she looks back at Gale her stomach swoops. Without another word, she takes off for the fence.

"Catnip!" she hears Gale move to follow her. "Catnip, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you."

She slows down and lets him catch up. She's not upset exactly. It's just that he's unsettled her. Looking at him, listening to him talk like that, it's making her giddy and panicky at the same time. And it's making her wonder if maybe she does want to know what it feels like.

Gale jogs to her side and then slows to fall into step beside her.

"Katniss, I'm really sorry. I-

"How do you do it?" she blurts out the question before she can really think better of it.

"What?"

"I mean _if_ I were to do that, how-how would I…how would I do it exactly?"

Gale stops and Katniss chances a glance at him. He looks stunned for a moment, but then Katniss sees him fight to suppress a smirk.

"You do it however you want. Whatever makes you feel good."

His voice comes out lower as he finishes speaking and Katniss's stomach swoops again. The words " whatever makes you feel good" bounce around in her head for a moment before she realizes she has no idea what would make her feel good. She lets out a huff of frustration.

"Gale, just tell me how to do it."

His eyes go wide again and he starts to shake his head.

"Katniss, I-I don't know if-

"_Gale_."

She's surprised at how needy she sounds, but it seems to accomplish her goal. Gale tilts his head up and runs a hand through his hair. Then, in a slightly strained voice, he says,

"Okay…uhm, when you've got some privacy for awhile, start uhm, rubbing your fingers above…"

He gestures and Katniss nods to show she knows where he means. This is bad enough without throwing in anatomical terms.

"Yeah, so uh, rub in little circles. You'll start to figure out what feels good. And you can probably just keep doing that. But…well, if you want, you can stick a finger inside yourself, like this."

He moves his finger in a beckoning motion and for just a moment, Katniss imagines his finger inside her. She looks up at Gale and shivers. His eyes are so dark she can barely see the grey in them. Her heart is racing and she stares at the ground. She hears Gale swallow and take a deep breath.

"Right, so that's-

"I think I get it."

"Okay-

"Yeah-

"Great."

They both stare at the ground for a moment before Gale says,

"Well, uh, it's getting late. So maybe we should head back."

"Okay."

They walk to the fence in silence and Katniss feels like the awkwardness is practically crushing them. She darts glances at Gale and finds he looks as uncomfortable as she feels. She thinks maybe she shouldn't have asked him any of that. When did it become his responsibility to address her hopeless naievity. Worst of all, he looks somewhat sheepish, like he said things he shouldn't have, or this was somehow his fault.

They climb underneath the fence and Katniss steels herself to say something before they walk the whole way home like this.

"Gale, I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have asked all that."

He opens his mouth, but Katniss presses ahead.

"You shouldn't have had to explain that to me. It's probably weird. I shouldn't have-

"Catnip, it's okay. I was just surprised because we don't usually talk about that."

"I know. I don't know what I was thinking. It was stupid and-

"_Catnip_. It's okay. We're friends, we can talk about anything you want," he gives her a small smile. It's a gentle, disarming smile, and Katniss breathes a sigh of relief because maybe it is okay. Because this is Gale and she doesn't have to censor herself around Gale. She smiles back at him and his own smile grows wider.

"We can talk about anything," he says. "But, that doesn't mean I won't tease you for being the most naive girl in-

"Shut up!" she shoves him lightly in the arm. "Some of us can control our hormones."

But Katniss discovers that isn't quite as true as she'd want to think. Because even though Hazelle makes a lovely birthday dinner that night, and she gets a small present from everyone, Katniss finds her mind constantly drifting to what Gale described. It makes her blush and she doesn't dare look at him, because then he'd know she's thinking about it. Though he probably knows anyway.

And finally, when everyone has gone to sleep, she slips her hand between her legs and gasps when her rubbing produces a pleasurable sort of shock. She keeps going until all her muscles clench and spasm, and it's all she can do to keep from crying out. And then she does it a second time, and a third time, just for good measure. She can't remember ever feeling so good when she finally falls asleep.

She can't look Gale in the eye the next morning and she can practically feel him smirking. But Katniss doesn't mind. It felt far too good to be spoiled by modesty.


	14. Chapter 14

_So, the fun is over and we're back to grim District 12 life. I'm glad the scene between Gale and Katniss was suitably awkward. I figured that conversation would be cringe-worthy in real life, so it had to be the kind of thing where you're embarrassed for Katniss. I imagine she's pretty ignorant about this stuff because she doesn't have too many friends or a close relationship with her mom. On the other hand, she's still a teenage girl and I don't think she'd be as hormone-less as Collins portrayed her. At least not when she's not in the Games or at war. I'm also glad people are picking up on the Haymitch stuff and don't see those as pointless, filler scenes. _

_Anyway, thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting, following, etc. I really do appreciate it. _

_Niam2816: I've updated :) I think the chapter where they cuddle/sleep will either be the next one, or the one after that.  
_

_babyblues02: Thanks so much for reading and reviewing each chapter. It's so fun to get reviews on the older chapters._

* * *

It takes Katniss a few days to regain her normal comfort level with Gale, but her well-practiced strategy of avoiding uncomfortable issues eventually works and she's able to pretend the conversation never happened. It helps that Gale chooses to follow her lead and never says a word about it. Katniss is fairly sure he's mocking her in his own mind, but she can live with that as long as he never brings it up again.

It isn't long before Katniss has far more important worries. The Reaping is fast approaching and it's the first year Prim will be eligible. Katniss does her best to forget this fact, but it creeps into her mind at random moments. Sometimes it's when she sees Hazelle using tesserae grain for cooking, or when her eyes land on the Hawthornes' television. Sometimes just looking at Prim reminds Katniss of everything at stake, and it nearly makes her ill. Katniss tries to shrug off the feeling of dread, but it doesn't truly leave her. Even when she thinks she's managed to clear it from her mind, she finds herself strangely irritable and on edge. She can't seem to stop herself from scolding Prim too harshly or snapping at Gale. And she only feels worse for having lost her temper with the people she cares about most.

As the reaping day draws closer, everyone grows edgy. Katniss finally sees the disadvantages to living in such a large household. With so many short tempers, conflict is near incessant and everyone handles it differently. Hazelle is far quicker to scold than usual. Her voice regularly takes on the harsh, clipped tone that was once reserved for particularly frustrating behavior. Prim cries more easily and spends much of her time with Mrs. Everdeen, who remains as catatonic as ever. Both Gale and Rory handle their fear by channeling it into anger and irritability. Even Vick and Posy seem to feel the tension.

It all comes to a boiling point three days before the reaping. Katniss and Gale have just returned from hunting when Prim greets them in tears.

"Dad's watch is g-gone!" she sobs. "It w-was on mom's nightstand this morning, b-but it's not there now. It's gone!"

Katniss stops breathing and her stomach clenches. They have very few physical reminders of their father and the watch is one of her favorites. She can still remember him using it to teach them how to count and how to tell time.

"How?" she asks, her voice rising. "That's not possible! It can't have just walked off!"

"I d-don't know."

Katniss shakes her head in exasperation and tries to imagine what possibly could have happened to the watch. It's Gale who points out that she won't find it by standing in the front yard and suggests going inside. Once they reach the kitchen, they find a frazzled Hazelle searching through cabinets while simultaneously trying to keep dinner from burning.

"Oh good, you're back," she says, wiping hair off her face. "Look for this watch so I can finish dinner."

Gale gives an exasperated sigh.

"I need to skin the meat and put it on ice-

"I'll look for the watch," Katniss tells him. A rational part of her knows someone needs to make dinner and prepare the meat, yet she finds herself irritated with Gale and Hazelle for failing to make the watch their first priority. Her frustration only grows as she helps Prim with her frantic search. Rory also joins in and recruits Vick and Posy to help, but Posy makes a mess and Vick just paces around looking unsure. When Gale finally comes back from preparing the meat, there's still no trace of the watch.

So Gale joins in and soon they've practically turned the house upside down. Prim is bordering on hysterical and Katniss doesn't feel much better. She keeps telling herself that it can't be gone, that they _will_ find it, and tries to ignore the feeling that she's losing even more of her father.

Her eyes dart frantically around the room, looking for an area she hasn't searched already, when she sees Gale doing nothing at all. He's just standing still, arms folded, staring at Vick.

"What are you doing?" she snaps, furious at him for being idle while she's on the verge of panic.

Gale doesn't even answer. He just keeps looking at Vick.

"Gale-

"He has it."

Gale crosses the room in three long strides and towers over Vick.

"Where is it?"

"I-I

"Don't you dare play games with me! Where the hell is it?"

"I don't-

Vick shrieks as Gale reaches into his pockets, jostling them roughly. Then they both go completely still. Gale pulls his hand out and swears.

"Gale!" Hazelle comes out of the kitchen. "What on earth are you doing?"

Gale holds the watch up in his hand, then walks over and gives it to Prim. She bursts into fresh tears and Katniss feels herself exhale. The relief that washes over her is so overpowering that she doesn't even care about what Vick's done.

But Gale is obviously feeling none of that and glares at Vick like he might actually hit him. The room is completely still for a moment before Gale breaks the stillness by striding back towards Vick, shoving a kitchen chair to the floor when it obstructs his path.

"Are you out of your mind?" he roars. "You _stole_ that! You _stole_ from Katniss and Prim!"

"I didn't know it was so special," Vick sobs.

"You still stole it! You still stole something and watched while we all went out of our minds trying to find it. Look how much you upset them! What have they ever done to you? What?"

Vick is crying far too hard to answer. He's trembling and cowering against the wall, but Gale remains furious.

" I can't believe this! I can't believe you stole again! Again! After we talked to you about it! After we punished you! What on earth is wrong with you? Is this some kind of game to you? Well you're about to find out this is no fucking joke-

"Gale!"

Hazelle crosses the room, but Gale just ignores her and goes right on yelling.

"I told you, I told you this had to stop. But I guess you want to learn the hard way, so that's what we're going to do!"

He yanks Vick's arm and starts to drag him towards the bedroom when Hazelle blocks his path.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asks.

If she's the least bit afraid of Gale's temper, she isn't showing it. She stands perfectly still with her hands on her hips, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Gale is towering over her and clenching every muscle in his body.

"I'm punishing him," Gale snaps.

"No you're not. I'll be doing that."

"By what? Making him scrub some things again? We're way past that."

"It's not up to you to decide what we're past."

Gale grits his teeth and shakes his head.

"Your way didn't work! He needs to learn a lesson and I'm going to make sure he does!"

"And how exactly are you going to do that?"

Gale furrows his brows and Katniss realizes he had no idea what he was going to do.

"That's what I thought," Hazelle says calmly. "You're losing your temper, not punishing. There's a difference and I thought you knew it. I'm disappointed in you."

Gale grits his teeth, but his eyes drop to the floor.

"Vick, go to your room," Hazelle says. "Gale, sit at the kitchen table. The rest of you go outside and come back in an hour."

Katniss flashes Gale a look of sympathy as they file out of the house. She knows she'd be beside herself if Prim was stealing.

"Gale was mad," Posy says when the door is shut behind them. "Really, really mad."

"Mad as I've ever seen him," Rory agrees.

"Was he going to fight Vick?"

Katniss and Rory both shake their heads.

"I think he was about this close though," Rory says, holding his finger and thumb close together. "That's why mom's going to yell at him."

"He was scary."

"He had to be," Katniss says. "Stealing is very serious."

Posy nods, eyes wide, and Katniss thinks that Gale has certainly managed to scare her away from theft.

"I'm sorry about all this," Rory says, looking at both Prim and Katniss. "I can't believe Vick did that. Even if Gale did smack him, he would've deserved it."

"No," Prim shakes her head. "He's a kid."

"He knows better though. I don't know what he was thinking."

Katniss shrugs.

"It's not your fault. I'm just glad we found it."

They stay outside and ultimately decide on a game of hide and seek to put Posy in a better mood. When they return inside, Gale is helping Hazelle put out dinner.

"I'm sorry," he says when Katniss shuts the back door. "I'm sorry I lost my temper in front of everyone."

As everyone accepts the apology, Katniss marvels at Hazelle yet again. She's probably the only person on earth who could have checked Gale's temper and managed to make him apologize for it.

"And I'm really sorry about your dad's watch," he says to Katniss and Prim.

"Me too," Hazelle adds. "Rest assured, Vick will be punished."

"It's okay," Katniss and Prim say together.

"Not really," Gale snorts. "You guys didn't deserve that."

"I don't think he did it to hurt us," Prim says. She tilts her head to the side and lets out a quiet sigh. "I think when he took it, he didn't know it would be such a big deal. Then he was too scared and embarrassed to say anything when he saw us all looking for it."

"Maybe," Gale shakes his head. Katniss steals a glance at him, taking in his slow movements and wrinkled brow. She touches his arm and he turns to face her.

"Gale," she says quietly. "He didn't mean to hurt us. You're right, stealing is bad, but he's a kid still. He'll learn."

"I messed it up," Gale says quietly, his voice so low she isn't sure if anyone can even hear them.

"I'd have been the same way. It's okay."

She rubs his arm and his eyes follow the movement of her hand for a moment. He gives her a small smile, looking a bit less miserable, and Katniss smiles back, glad to have been of some comfort.

Dinner is a somber affair. Vick is allowed out of his room to eat and the first words out of his mouth are an apology delivered in a quivering voice to Katniss and Prim.

After dinner, Vick and Gale have a talk in the backyard. Though Vick no longer seems terrified of his older brother, the talk clearly doesn't go particularly well. As they come back in the house, Katniss hears Vick shout,

"You're not dad!"

He goes back into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him, and Katniss hears Gale sigh heavily.

"Believe me, I know," he mutters.

And Katniss is as familiar with the weight of that feeling as she is with the ever-present pang of hunger. It gnaws at her in much the same manner, not quite strong enough to merit an emergency, but always scratching away at her contentment. Like the reaping, it reminds her that no matter what she does, it will never be enough.

She meets Gale when he comes back into the kitchen and wraps her arms around him, squeezing him tightly and then pulling away quickly when she realizes everyone but Vick is still hanging around the kitchen. Gale chuckles, rubs her shoulder briefly, and says thank you with his eyes.

The rest of the evening, and the days that follow, remain subdued. Vick is still angry at Gale, who is angry right back, and the threat of the reaping hangs over them all. It builds in intensity until the afternoon arrives and the dread is almost all consuming. Everyone gets dressed and Prim tries to get their mother to leave her bed.

"Won't she get in trouble if she's not there?" Prim asks as she lets Hazelle fix her hair.

"If someone notices, which is unlikely, we'll bring them back here to see she's bedridden," Hazelle says.

Katniss isn't entirely sure that will be enough, so she leaves Prim and Hazelle in front of the bathroom mirror and goes to see her mother.

"Mom," Katniss nudges her gently on the elbow. "You really need to get up today. You'll get in trouble if you don't."

Her mother opens her eyes and blinks, disoriented from sleep. Katniss asks her to get up several more times, only to be met with more vacant stares.

"I suppose you don't care if you'll get in trouble, do you?" Katniss doesn't bother trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "It's not like you care if they take you to prison and you're not around to take care of us. I wonder if you'd even care if they executed you. Probably not."

Katniss shakes her head in disgust and goes to the dresser to get an outfit for the Reaping. She had thought she was the past the point of expecting anything from her mother, and yet every now and then, she finds herself succumbing to the unrealistic hope that her mother will respond to her. She shakes her head at her own stupidity, changes into a light dress, and exits the room, slamming the door behind her.

She peeks into the bathroom just as Hazelle is finishing braiding Prim's hair into two pigtails.

"There you go."

Prim gives them each a nervous smile and walks out of the bathroom. Katniss feels her heart constrict.

'She only has one slip,' Katniss assures herself. 'It won't be her.'

"Would you like me to do your hair?" Hazelle asks, breaking Katniss out of her trance. "I don't know any elaborate braids like your mother, but I can neaten it up."

Katniss nods and goes to stand before the bathroom mirror in front of Hazelle.

"I never did learn many ways to fix hair," Hazelle says with a small smile. "I always wore mine down."

"We'll do it that way then," Katniss says, suddenly not wanting her hair braided like her mother would have done.

"Well, it might be crinkled funny from your braid, but we can try it."

Hazelle shakes Katniss's hair out of her braid and starts gently combing her fingers through it.

"It's actually waving nicely," Hazelle says. Katniss looks at her hair in the mirror, watching it fall in dark brown waves around her shoulders. Hazelle sprinkles some water on her fingers and works out the more stubborn tangles. Katniss closes her eyes and lets the gentle motions massage her scalp. Eventually, Hazelle stops working and reaches for a bottle on the small table. She opens it and pours out a dab of cream.

"This is juniper root and aloe vera," she says. "It'll make your hair look shiny."

She rubs a small amount on the ends of Katniss's hair and then combs her fingers through a few more times.

"There."

She smiles and Katniss inspects herself in the mirror. Her hair does have a subtle sheen to it, making it look almost glossy and giving the color a certain warmth. It's as pretty as Katniss has ever seen her hair look.

"Thank you."

"Anytime. You look lovely, dear."

Hazelle rubs her back gently and smiles at Katniss again.

"I'd better go make sure the boys are ready."

Hazelle slips out of the bathroom and Katniss stares at herself in the mirror for a moment longer. In her dress, with her hair fixed so nicely, she almost feels like one of the pretty girls at school. If it were any other day, she might be happy.

Instead, she shakes her head and steps out of the bathroom. A moment later, Gale is in front of her, frowning as he tucks in his crisp, white reaping shirt. His face changes when he catches sight of her. His eyes move up her body, lingering at the places where the fabric of her dress clings to her. Then he looks at her hair and studies her face, eyes staying caught on her lips for a moment, before they look back into her own.

For once, Katniss can't read his eyes because there are too many emotions flitting across them and not all of them are familiar. At last, Gale swallows and looks away.

"You look pretty."

"Thanks."

Her voice comes out hoarse. She means to tell him he looks handsome too, with his hair neat and his shoulders looking so broad in that shirt. But the words seem to get caught in her throat as she imagines him walking up to the stage, tall and proud in his best clothes. The image cuts the words off in her throat and she makes a sort of choked noise.

He has forty-two slips in that bowl. Forty-two. It's an unfathomable amount and she wonders if there's anybody in the whole district with more.

"Catnip?"

Katniss can hear the concern in his voice and she forces herself to calm down. She needs to pull it together. Prim needs her. Prim. Prim is in the reaping. It could be Prim.

"Hey," Gale pulls her into his arms. "She only has one slip, Catnip. She'll be okay."

"How'd you know?"

"You don't cry easy," he says with a chuckle. "And you were about to choke up. Only Prim can worry you like that."

"I was not about to cry," she snaps, pulling out of his embrace.

"Just keep telling yourself that."

She scowls, about to retort, when Hazelle calls out to them.

"Come on," she says. "We're going to be late if we don't hurry. Let's go."

She sees her own pain in Gale's face. For a moment he looks at her almost frantically, like he wants to shove her back in the bathroom and lock her in. Instead, he swallows and starts walking towards the front door.

Katniss follows him out and takes Prim's hand as they make their way to the square. The silence is oppressive and even Posy is too anxious for idle chatter. Halfway through the walk, she stops and plants herself in front of Gale, reaching her arms out for him to lift her up. He obliges and Katniss sees Hazelle bite her lip and swallow. Rory must catch it too, because he moves closer to his mother and nudges her gently forward.

They all have to separate when they arrive at the square. Katniss barely feels her finger getting pricked because she's too busy watching Prim hesitantly move to her section with the other eleven-year-olds.

Katniss steps back into her own section and waits, taking deep breaths and glaring at the stage. She can't understand why it's taking so long for Effie Trinket and Mayor Undersee to stand up and start this already. The seconds are going agonizingly slow, allowing her anxiety to further twist her stomach into knots.

Her eyes land on Haymitch and Katniss finds herself grateful for the distraction. He's slouched in his chair, staring out over the crowd, but not seeming to really see anything. His jaw is slightly slack and Katniss thinks he looks as drunk as she's ever seen him. Certainly worse than she's ever seen him look while they repaired his fence.

Thinking of the fence makes her think of Gale and she searches him out in the crowd. He's not too hard to find, standing in the back of his section and rising a few inches above most of the other boys. Forty-two slips. She swallows and tries not to think about how easily he might get picked.

When she looks back at him, Gale meets her eyes and raises his eyebrows in a silent question. She shrugs. She's alright, or as alright as she'll be for now. He nods and grimaces, then a voice pulls their attention to the stage.

Mayor Undersee has finally started the ceremony and Katniss can almost feel her blood flowing more quickly as he welcomes everyone. When he begins reading the Treaty of Treason, Katniss's stomach churns and twists so violently she wonders if she's going to be sick. She tries to concentrate on the Mayor speaking, but she's heard the treaty far too many times for it to offer any distraction from her nerves. When he's finally finished, he passes the microphone to Effie Trinket, who is beaming back at the crowd like there's nothing more exciting than choosing which children will be wrenched away from their families and murdered on television.

Katniss doesn't concentrate on any of Effie's babbling until the words "let's begin" pierce through her whirling thoughts and stop her breath.

"How about ladies first," Effie simpers. She digs her long nails into the bowl, stirring the papers around as she reaches for the most unlucky girl in District 12. Katniss bites down on her lip, chanting "not Prim, not Prim" over and over in her mind.

Finally, Effie pulls out a slip and opens it agonizingly slowly. She folds out the edges and reaches for the microphone before calling,

"Ansley Halliman."

Katniss lets out the breath she was holding. It wasn't Prim. Ansley is halfway up the stage before Katniss processes the name and realizes that she played poker with this girl just weeks ago. Ansley is trembling and biting her lip to keep from crying as she comes up to take her place beside Effie, who smiles down at her saying something inane about how excited she must be. Katniss looks away and tries not to think about how Ansley was the first one to introduce her to everyone at poker night.

"And now for the young men!" Effie declares. Katniss's stomach clenches all over again and she looks for Gale in the crowd. His face is blank, but he's clenched his jaw and tensed his shoulders. Katniss is looking at him instead of Effie when her voice rings out, clear and unmistakable,

"Gale Hawthorne."


	15. Chapter 15

_Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing so far! It means a lot to me. I'm going to do the full author's note stuff at the bottom, so here we go: _

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For a moment everything is still. Katniss's mind seems to have stopped and even the crowd seems frozen, but somewhere in the stillness she realizes that Gale has just been called. Gale has been reaped.

She searches frantically for him in the crowd and finds him standing as frozen as she is. Then, he straightens his shoulders, tilts his head up, and begins to step forward. The motions send Katniss into a panic. Her breath is coming in short gasps and she starts pushing her way towards the edge of her section. The desire to get closer to Gale is overwhelming, though she has no idea what she'll do when she reaches him.

When Katniss gets to the edge of her section, Gale has made his way to the center walkway and is moving towards the stage. She meets his eyes and sees something of her own horror reflected there, and something else too, something like an apology. But suddenly his eyes fill with panic and she follows his gaze to see Rory stepping forward.

"Don't you dare! Don't you fucking dare!"

Gale's shouting is echoing behind her and Katniss begins pushing people aside again to reach Rory, because he can't do this, he just can't. But everyone is moving out of the way too slowly, and she's not going to make it in time, and suddenly she hears,

"I volunteer."

Katniss freezes. The voice is familiar, but it's far too deep to be Rory's. She finds Rory in the crowd, and he's come to a stop and is staring towards another section. Katniss looks over and sees Thom walking forward, following the path left behind Gale and coming to the center of the crowd. His face is blank and his eyes are fixed ahead, ignoring everything but the path in front of him.

Gale comes to a stop, his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide. But as Thom steps up next to him, he comes to life.

"What the hell are you doing?" he grabs Thom by the elbow and jerks him back. "You can't do this! You can't-

"I can."

Thom moves to pull out of Gale's grip, but Gale holds fast.

"No, you can't! I can't-

"Let go!"

Thom shoves Gale, who takes a step back with the impact. But in a moment, he's shoving Thom back and Katniss sees peacekeepers rushing towards them.

"You can't fucking do this!"

"I don't need your permission-

"Stop!"

Katniss rushes forward just as Gale lunges at Thom and throws him to the ground. They roll in the dirt for a moment before Thom manages to pin Gale beneath him.

"Stop!" Katniss screams again. She goes to yank Thom's arm away from Gale, but then she feels herself being pulled backwards. Before she has a chance to protest, peacekeepers close in around Thom and Gale.

"Come on."

Katniss looks back and sees that it's Darius pulling her away from the fight. She lets him guide her to the edge of the pathway and watches as Thom stands up and two Peacekeepers keep ahold of Gale. He's still swearing and shouting at Thom not to do it, but Thom doesn't even look back, he just continues making his way towards the stage.

Eventually, Gale falls silent and Katniss vaguely hears Effie Trinket babbling about how exciting this has been. Thom steps onto the stage and introduces himself and Effie directs the tributes to shake hands.

When she asks for a round of applause for the tributes, the crowd stays completely silent. Katniss doesn't see who starts it, but suddenly everyone is raising three fingers to their lips and then holding them out above their heads. Katniss sees Gale jerk out of the Peacekeepers grip to hold up his own fingers and she follows suit. The gesture is weighted with profound respect and finality, but she thinks Thom deserves it as much as anyone ever has.

The crowd remains completely silent with their hands in the air for a few moments and Katniss feels goose bumps break out across her arms. Finally, Effie ends the moment by stuttering awkward closing remarks and leads Thom and Ansley into the justice building.

Katniss's first instinct is throw herself into Gale's arms because she got so painfully close to losing him. But when she considers his stance, stiff and with his arms tensed, she decides on a more cautious approach. She walks slowly over to him, letting him glimpse her from the corner of his eyes before she plants herself in front of him.

"Gale," she says softly.

He meets her eyes and Katniss has never seen him look so lost. His mouth is still slightly open and he keeps blinking as he takes in the crowd thinning out. His anger from before seems to be submerged beneath grief, guilt and disbelief. Before she can think of something to say, Hazelle approaches him.

"We need to hurry and get to the Justice Building," she says.

Gale blinks at her and Katniss thinks it's cruel that he doesn't have more time to come to terms with this, but her wishes have never changed much. So, she takes his arm and loops it through her own, then moves them towards the Justice Building. After only a slight hesitation, Gale manages to follow her.

When they arrive at the Justice Building, Hazelle asks Katniss to take the children to visit Thom so she can have a moment alone with him. Katniss doesn't particularly want to face him without the support of Gale or Hazelle, but she's not about to ruin their chance to say goodbye on their own terms.

So she takes a deep breath and pushes open the door, holding it open as Prim, Rory, Vick, and Posy trail in behind her. Thom is pacing in the back of the room, but he stills and looks up when they enter. As he watches them pile in, Katniss sees a small smile appear on his face and she thinks he looks surprisingly at peace for someone about to enter the Hunger Games.

At first no one seems to know what to say, but then Prim breaks the silence and says.

"Oh Thom, thank you!" she steps forward and holds her arms out for a hug. Thom picks her up and squeezes her as her feet dangle off the floor. Katniss feels the back of her eyes pricking and she looks at the floor. She can hear Rory, Vick and Posy saying thank you, but she can't bring herself to speak. She tries to look up as she hears Thom making a joke with Rory, but then she sees Thom scoop Posy into a hug and she has to look away again.

She's just barely managed to gather herself together when Rory and Prim start herding the younger children out and she realizes she's about to be left alone with Thom.

"I-you-why?" she stutters when the door shuts behind everyone else. "I-I mean thank you, but _why_?"

Thom grimaces and looks out at the door.

"There's a lot of people who depend on Gale," he says hoarsely. "He's got everything to lose and I…I don't have that."

Katniss tries to wrap her mind around the enormity of what he's said. Flashes of sympathy, awe, and sadness pass so quickly she can't process the emotions. She feels her chin shaking, but swallows and wills herself not to cry. She won't, not when it would only make things worse for Thom.

"Thank you," she whispers again. "Without Gale, I don't know if…"

She trails off. She doubts she could have fed everyone without him, but the thought is too unpleasant to sustain.

"I know," Thom says quietly. "That's why."

Katniss nods again and fumbles for something else to say.

"You could win," she says. "You're strong, older than most of the other tributes. You could do it."

"I mean to try," he says. "The Capitol isn't going to forget about District 12 this year."

He looks resolute, even fierce, when he says it and Katniss thinks maybe he can do it, but she's still afraid to hope so.

She doesn't know what else to say. She knows she should leave so Gale and Hazelle can have their turns, but she feels like she owes him so much. It's more than she could ever repay, but she still feels like she ought to say something to let him know that he's important. That no matter what, she won't forget him.

"I-you-you were my first kiss that night," she blurts out.

He cracks a grin.

"Really? Well, I'm sorry-

"I'm not. You're as good a first kiss as anyone," she says it fiercely, because part of her feels rather honored that her first kiss came from someone this brave.

"What about Gale?"

Her mouth drops open and she can't even begin to formulate a reply. She shouldn't think about kissing Gale. Not right now. But she can't help herself, because maybe she does want to kiss him, and in some ways her first kiss probably should have been from Gale.

"I…we…

She's blushing uncontrollably, but Thom just starts laughing.

"Don't worry Katniss," he says. "I know how you feel about Gale, and your secret's safe with me. I just hope you two figure it out sooner rather than later."

Katniss blushes and stutters, trying to make sense of what he said and figure out some kind of response. She's still tongue-tied when she hears a knock on the door.

"Oh! I should go! Hazelle and Gale want to talk to you."

"Okay."

He opens up his arms and Katniss steps into them.

"Take care of yourself," she tells him.

"You too."

He lets her go and she walks quickly out of the room so he won't see her cry. Once she's out, a few tears fall from her eyes and she turns towards the wall, trying to wipe them away.

Hazelle's already gone into the room by the time Katniss composes herself and Gale is standing a few feet away from the rest of the family, tensed and pacing. Katniss hugs her arms to her chest and remains silent, shifting her weight back and forth on her feet.

Eventually Hazelle comes out of the room, dabbing tears from the corners of her eyes. Gale doesn't say a word to anyone as he walks in the door to take her place.

Katniss puts an arm around Prim who is still sniffling and they all wait in silence while Gale says his goodbyes. Hazelle holds Posy, who has buried her head in her mother's shoulder. Vick and Rory stay close to Hazelle and don't say a word. Katniss wishes she could do or say something comforting, but she's not sure there is anything. The only thing good about is that Gale's safe, but to say that right now seems selfish enough to be cruel. And she wonders if Gale even wants to be safe if this is what safe looks like.

Peacekeepers finally come to take Thom away. They take Gale's arm like they're afraid he'll start fighting again, but he jerks out of their grasp.

"I'm going," he snaps.

They drop his arms and go inside the room with Thom. Gale stands outside the door, looking drained.

"Gale," Posy twists out of her mother's grasp and reaches her arms out to him. "Don't go away."

He swallows and looks at the floor for a moment before he says quietly,

"I'm not going anywhere Pose."

He takes her out of Hazelle's arms and she nestles her head onto his shoulder.

"We should go," Hazelle says.

They draw stares from the people they pass as they leave. Katniss is not sure if she's reading their expressions accurately, but she thinks she sees everything from awe to sympathy to curiosity. She has a feeling Thom and the Hawthornes will be talked about extensively in the coming weeks. It makes her glad school is out for the summer, she'll only have to put up with the gossip during mandatory viewings.

The walk home is just as silent as the time in the Justice Building and Katniss knows that none of them have any idea what to say. When they get inside, Gale moves to put Posy down but she whines a protest and clings to him. Katniss doesn't entirely blame her. If she were young enough not to have mixed emotions, she'd cling to Gale too. In fact, she'd still cling to him if she knew he wouldn't mind. The enormity of almost losing him overwhelms her again and she blinks back tears. She hates herself for crying this much in one afternoon.

But she must not be the only one thinking this way, because suddenly Vick launches himself at Gale and flings his arms around him.

"I'm sorry!" he says, sobbing into Gale's stomach.

"Hey, hey," Gale puts his free arm around Vick. "It's okay buddy. It really is. I'm sorry too."

"You almost got picked. You would have left hating me."

"What?" Gale looks appalled. "Vick, look at me. I never, _never _hated you, and I never will. I love you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Don't _ever _forget that."

"I love you too," Vick mumbles, burying his face back against Gale.

Katniss hears a sniffle.

"Ma, don't do that, stop," Gale looks frantically around the kitchen. Hazelle is wiping tears out of her eyes and Prim and Posy have joined Vick in sobbing.

"You guys," Gale looks positively distressed. "Don't, I-I'm still here and you guys would be fine without me."

Rory snorts and Katniss is tempted to join him, but Gale is looking at her when he says it, and she knows it's a plea as much as a statement.

"It wouldn't be easy," she tells him. "Gale, if you-

Her throat closes and her eyes burn.

"Don't," Gale moves to step towards her, but Vick is still clinging to him. He looks around, clearly helpless to comfort this many people at once.

"Posy," Hazelle steps forward and lifts her out of Gale's arms. "You need to share your brother too."

At first Katniss doesn't move, she just blinks back tears. But Gale is still holding an arm open for her and the need to be close to him is overwhelming. She's carefully suppressed it all afternoon, but now she's not sure she can take it any longer. She steps forward and lets him wrap an arm around her and squeeze her against his chest. Eventually, Vick must step away because she feels his other arm come around her and smooth her hair.

"I'm still here," he tells her softly. "It's okay."

"Yes and no," she looks up at him. He grimaces and she wishes she hadn't said anything. Of course he knows it's not okay, he must feel that even more than she does.

"Sorry," she mumbles.

"It's not your fault."

"For saying-

"It's not your fault, it was just the truth."

Katniss squeezes him tighter for a moment before she lets go of him and steps back. Gale hugs Prim, Rory, Hazelle, and Posy again, before Hazelle orders them all to sit down at the table.

She begins by explaining to Vick and Posy that Thom chose to put his own life at risk so Gale could safely take care of his family.

"He's a hero," she tells them. "No matter what happens, he's a hero, and we're all going to try to be more like him. We're also going to try and help him as best we can. I want each of you to find something of yours for Katniss and Gale to trade so we can collect money for a sponsor gift. We're also going to be eating a bit less so we can give more to Thom."

Katniss knows whatever meager amount of money they manage to raise will hardly make a difference, but she also knows it's the principle. Perhaps they can send some token to let Thom know it's from them. She'll have to ask Madge how to go about sending a gift because she's never tried before.

Gale goes outside when Hazelle is done speaking and Katniss lets him sit on the bench for awhile before she goes to join him.

"I feel like a piece of shit," he says and Katniss can see just how much he was holding it together for his family's sake. Now he looks lost again.

"It's not your fault."

"No, it's the Capitol's fucking fault. But, it still should have been me."

"He made his own decision."

"I know, that's what he kept saying. He said he had been thinking about volunteering after his mom died, even before it was me, but…he wouldn't just say that, right?"

"I don't know," she admits. "Maybe he would, to keep you from feeling guilty. But he did tell me he wants to make sure the Capitol doesn't forget our district. So maybe he has been thinking about it for awhile."

"He's been angrier since his mom died, but still…It-it should have been me! It was my name! And I want to fight them, to show them they're evil and we're better than them-

"You want it bad enough to leave us all?" her voice rises.

"No," Gale looks away. "A sick, cowardly part of me is happy. Thrilled, in fact, that I'm still here. Not just to take care of my family, but also because I-I don't want to go through that."

"It's not sick, it's human."

"Maybe, but tell me you don't feel awful for being happy I'm here. I know you do, it's been all over your face."

"I know. I-I didn't want it to be Thom, but anyone was better than you. Except Rory."

Katniss's stomach twists horribly as it occurs to her that it's not Rory dying that makes her feel that way, but what his death would do to Gale. She thinks she must be the most selfish girl in the world for caring so much more for her best friend than she does for anyone else.

"When he started stepping forward I thought I was going to die," Gale says softly. "It would have killed me."

"I know. I don't know what I was going to do."

"You could have knocked him the hell out for all I cared. Anything but that."

She grimaces.

" I wasn't going to get there in time. If Thom hadn't…"

She shivers and Gale shakes his head.

"He saved us alright," his voice sounds both bitter and grateful. "If he hadn't been there…there's not a damn thing I could have done. Not a single fucking thing."

And Katniss knows that's the worst part of it. That after everything, _everything_ Gale has done, he's still ultimately powerless to protect his family. And for a moment she understands why he talks about rebellion, because there really is no way to care for the people he loves so long as the Capitol remains in power. But her understanding only lasts a moment, because a rebellion is futile. It would move his family from possible to certain danger. But maybe they're already in certain danger?

Katniss forces the thought from her mind, shaking her head violently. She can't think like that. She won't. It's not safe and Gale does it enough for the both of them. If she didn't stop him who knows how far his rants might take him.

They sit in silence for a while longer before Gale sighs, stands, and offers a hand to her. She lets him pull her up off the bench and they head inside for dinner and the recap of the reaping.

Normally, Katniss doesn't watch the recap. She keeps the television on in the background in case peacekeepers come calling, but she goes about her business instead of watching. She knows the Hawthornes usually do the same, and Gale purposefully tries to keep his brothers and sisters from paying attention to it. But this year is different, this year they want a look at Thom's competition.

As she expected, the Careers look like trouble, particularly a large boy from District 2. But Katniss finds herself most upset that a tall, muscular boy is reaped from District 11. The career districts were going to give Thom enough trouble, he shouldn't have to worry about a boy from District 11 too.

She knows Gale must be thinking the same thing too, because he looks at the boy and says,

"He didn't volunteer. Maybe he doesn't want to kill anyone and they can just avoid each other."

Katniss nods. There's certainly plenty of ways the boy from District 11 and Thom could get killed without running into each other.

When District 12 comes up, Katniss is surprised to see herself on camera as she rushes towards Gale and then turns to get towards Rory.

"You shouldn't have done that," Gale says, and Katniss can see him getting angry all over again.

"I'd do it again," Rory says. "This family needs you to survive."

"That-

"Enough," Hazelle's voice shakes slightly. "This family needs both of you and I don't want to hear another word about it."

Both boys look abashed and mumble their apologies. Turning back towards the screen, Katniss sees herself again trying to pull Gale and Thom apart before Peacekeepers arrive and Darius moves her away.

To nobody's surprise, the video cuts off before the residents of District 12 give the three-fingered salute and both announcers start talking about what an interesting year it was. They speculate on how Gale and Thom know each other, cousins maybe, and even who Katniss is. Eventually, they decide everything will be revealed in the interviews and urge viewers to stay tuned to learn more about the drama of District 12.

Hazelle snorts and turns off the television.

"Time for bed, we have plenty more of this nonsense ahead of us tomorrow."

Usually there is a bit of grumbling from Vick and Posy about bedtime, but tonight everyone goes quietly. Katniss gives Prim a quick kiss on the top of her head and remembers that, however bad this day was, it could have been much worse.

Once everyone has left the room, Katniss lays out her pillow and blankets and tries to ignore the way the television seems to stare menacingly at her. Though she tries not to look at it, her eyes seem drawn to the blank screen. And she knows the blankness is only a temporary reprieve. Tomorrow she's going to have to keep watching. Maybe she'll have to watch Thom kill someone, or be killed, or get attacked by a mutt. She shivers at the thought and pulls her blanket up around her.

Trying to sleep proves impossible. After half an hour of trying to keep herself from imagining future broadcasts, Katniss gets up and paces around the living room. Eventually, she pours herself a glass of water and stands towards the window to drink it. But the moment she looks out the window, her stomach lurches. Right across the street is the house where Thom grew up.

Katniss puts the glass down with a slam and almost runs back to the couch. When she sits down, she hugs her knees to her chest and buries her head on her arms, trying to keep the stinging in her eyes from transitioning to tears.

Even when she's willed the tears away, she doesn't dare look up, knowing the television will be staring back at her. Instead, she keeps her forehead against her knees and takes deep breaths, trying to think of something, anything else. Her mind doesn't cooperate though and she's thinking not just of this year's Hunger Games, but of all the worst moments of previous year's Games. She's remembering the way a District 1 boy eviscerated his partner when she feels an arm wrap around her shoulders and the couch sink down beside her.

Gale doesn't say anything. He just pulls her towards him and Katniss allows her head to fall against his chest and her legs to drape over his. Gale keeps one hand cradling her shoulder and reaches his other hand around to rub circles on the small of her back. His warmth doesn't make Katniss forget about the Games, but it does make them less overwhelming. It's a tangible reminder that there is some good, even in Panem, and she doesn't have to deal with the bad all on her own.

The thought makes her start crying all over again and she feels absurd crying when she knows this must be so much harder on Gale. She takes deep, shuddering breaths to try and calm herself, and eventually manages to quiet her sobs.

"Sorry," she whispers.

"Don't be stupid. It's fine."

She shakes her head, but Gale shushes her before she can protest. The hand rubbing her back now smoothes her hair and Katniss closes her eyes. Gale moves beneath her hair, massaging her scalp with small circular movements and it makes her mind go blank. It's not everyday that her scalp gets massaged and it's a profoundly relaxing experience.

When he moves back down to rub her back, Katniss's head drops into his chest and her jaw relaxes. She thinks she dozes for a moment before she wakes up again and realizes Gale is still tracing circles on the small of her back.

"Sorry, I think I fell asleep."

"S'okay. I'm glad you relaxed."

"Me too," she says. "I couldn't sleep before."

Without thinking she looks back at the television and feels her stomach clench. Gale looks down at her and then follows her gaze.

"Oh _that_," he glares at the television. "No wonder you can't sleep."

"It's stupid. I'm sure I'll fall asleep eventually."

"You can sleep in our room tonight. My bed's big enough."

Katniss considers this for a moment. Perhaps she ought to think it strange to climb into a bed with a guy, but this is Gale. It's obviously not like _that_. His presence is comforting and there's no television in there, so she nods her agreement and starts to climb off his lap.

"We'll just have to get up before everyone else," he says. "My mom wouldn't like it, even though it's not like we're doing anything."

She nods, that'll be easy enough. They're usually up before everyone else so they can start hunting. Katniss has been getting up early for so many years she's not sure she could oversleep if she tried.

They're as silent as ever as Gale opens the door and they step into the bedroom. The door makes just the slightest click as he closes it and they both stand perfectly still, watching Rory and Vick breathe evenly before they cross the room to Gale's bed.

He climbs in first, lying down on his side and scooting all the way against the wall. He's left her enough space to keep an inch between them and Katniss slides in and rolls on her side. She folds her hands and slips them under the pillow to rest beneath her head. Gale drops his arm over her side and Katniss feels a warmth flow through her. She can feel the light bursts of Gale's breath against her hair and the rise and fall of his chest. From a few feet away, she hears Rory start snoring. She smiles, lets her eyes shut, and is asleep in minutes.

* * *

_See, Gale is okay...for now :) I'm so glad you all cared so much, it makes me feel like I'm doing something right here. Thank you so much for reading, favoriting, reviewing, etc.  
_

_So, to those of you who wanted to see the cuddling/falling asleep together, here's the first part of it. They'll be more in future chapters. Anyway..._

_Anon: Someone was right on the money. Way to call it. _

_Bloodredfirefly: Thank you again for such a sweet review. I'm glad I'm making the characters realistic. _

_FortuneFaded: Thanks for reading, and things worked out remarkably like how you predicted they would :) _

_Ellenka: Thank you so much! Yeah, Vick's stealing is going to be a problem. Like you said, not a good trait for District 12. _

_To be a rebel: I hope you didn't actually throw the phone. And trust me, I am equally unhealthy about my favorite stories. _

_bohobo: See it's all okay, I'm not trying to kill you :) I'm glad you care so much, it makes me so happy because I have stories that I'm exactly the same way about. I'm glad you're liking the characters and thanks so much for all your lovely reviews. _


	16. Chapter 16

_Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate all your thoughts and kind words. _

_To those of you wondering if Katniss and Gale will get caught snuggling: They are stealthy, but we've got a crowded house and Hazelle, who is pretty on the ball. They can only sneak something like this by her for so long. _

_Ellenka: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and the reactions rang true to you. I still think I don't write gut-wrenching emotion as well as you do.  
_

_Anon: Thank you! I'm glad you notice the balance, because I try really hard not to lose sight of how difficult life is in D12.  
_

_Potterhead 2015: Thanks. I just don't have the heart to kill of Gale. I like him too much :) And yeah, Katniss is gaining a little bit of self awareness, but she's still got a ways to go. That was the one thing that really stood out about her to me in the books, she was just not in touch with her emotions and why she felt the way she did. _

_Jessyhcl: I'm glad it was heart-wrenching...though, I suppose that's a weird thing to say. I was hoping to portray how it would impact the different characters. Oh, and there will be plenty more cuddling. _

_FortunteFaded2012: Thank you! I'm glad it rang true. I'm having a hard time writing about the games since my characters aren't actually in them, but hopefully the rebellion starts to take shape in this chapter.  
_

_Thanks again to everyone reading, now on to the Games:_

* * *

Katniss continues to sleep in Gale's bed during the nights that follow. They wake up before anyone else and exit the room as quietly as they approach deer in the woods. She feels a slight twinge of guilt at the thought of hiding something from Hazelle, but she decides it's not so bad since they're not actually doing anything wrong. Any guilt that fails to assuage is easily overwhelmed by the comfort she draws from sleeping next to Gale. There's something reassuring about the solidity of his body against hers and rhythm of his breaths. And it's always warm, though not in a way Katniss has ever felt before. The heat of his body beside hers doesn't surprise her, but her own body also seems to warm itself from the inside out the moment he drapes his arm around her.

She craves his presence even more after he announces that he'll start work in the mines on Monday, the day after the Games open. He brings it up during dinner and everyone else seems to take the news better than Katniss does. They all just nod their agreement, looking completely unsurprised, but Katniss nearly drops her fork. The food seems to get stuck in her throat and she actually has to remind herself to swallow.

She knows she should have expected this, but somehow she had managed to forget it was coming. And the way Gale says it so calmly, like he's not turning her world upside down, just infuriates her. She wants to scream at him, tell him he can't risk the mines, that he can't leave her to go somewhere where they can't watch each other's backs.

She can't look at him for the rest of the evening. And when he sneaks out of his room to invite her to bed, she plans to tell him she'll stay on the couch. But he comes out and sits nervously on the edge of the couch, scuffing his foot against the floor. He doesn't ask her why she's barely spoken to him, instead he just says,

"I'll still hunt with you on Sundays."

It's not an apology or a solution, but it gives her a sense of hope. Then she remembers what a dangerous emotion that is.

"You'll be too tired," she says.

"Both our dads managed to come out on Sundays, so what makes you think I won't?"

Her stomach clenches. She doesn't want him to talk about their fathers, not when he's going to the place that killed them.

"I don't know why you're upset," he scowls at her sour expression. "This always had to happen."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't know why you're so great with it."

Gale snorts.

"I'm not great with it. I don't have a choice."

"Well you seem fine to me."

"What do you want me to do? Tell everyone that I'm afraid I'm going to die? Make my mom think about the fact that her son's going to do the same job that killed her husband? My family needs me to be fine, so that's what I'm going to be."

She sighs heavily, knowing he's right.

"It's just hard. It's like I'm the only one upset about this."

"You're not. Trust me."

Something in his voice forces her to really look at him, to really see the way he gnaws on his lower lip and takes quicker, shallow breaths. She knows she ought to say something reassuring, but it's her fear that manages to make it to the surface.

"I just…I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"I'll be fine," he tells her.

She nearly contradicts him, tells him they have no way of knowing if he really will be, but she manages to bite her tongue. Gale is trying to put on a brave face and she can understand why.

"Yeah, you probably will be fine," she tells him. "Lots of miners live to a ripe old age and get hacking coughs. I'll probably still be putting up with you in fifty years."

He laughs and the sound warms Katniss to her toes. Then he glances down at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Fifty years, huh?"

She gives a firm nod. He'd better live that long, though she supposes she won't be the only one around if he does.

"By then you'll have some poor wife putting up with you," she tells him, hoping he can't hear the bitterness in her voice. She didn't mean for it come out that way, and she's not entirely sure why it did.

Gale opens his mouth, on the verge of saying something, then he shuts it again. He shakes his head and gives a heavy sigh.

"C'mon, let's sleep."

The next day they take the mining gear that belonged to Gale's father to the Hob. They trade it away and use the coins they earn, and many of the precious ones they've saved, to buy Gale the newest equipment. He hadn't wanted to spend the money, but Katniss and Hazelle were both adamant. Gale needed the best they could give him. Katniss thinks that even Greasy Sae must agree, because she eyed the equipment and gave them more than their raccoon was really worth.

They also add to the fund they had started for Thom after the reaping. True to her word, Hazelle is serving slightly smaller meals and Katniss and Gale are trading the extra meat for money when they can. People from the Hob actually approach them to contribute a bit of money, something that Katniss can't remember ever happening in years past.

She thinks it may have something to do with the fact that Thom and Ansley made something of a name for themselves on the night of the opening ceremony. They stunned the audiences in District 12 and the Capitol alike by coming out in form-fitting black outfits with real flames fanning out behind them. As they came towards the center of the stage, Ansley had shaken, nearly losing her footing. Thom reached an arm around to steady her and didn't let go. Instead, he drew her more tightly against him and the capitol audience started "ohhing" and "ahhing" at the gesture.

Their training scores also kept them in the spotlight. Ansley received a decent seven, but Thom received a nine, easily the highest score a District 12 tribute had gotten in years. The scores left Katniss with a small swell of hope she can't seem to shake, no matter how much her practical side tells her not to count on anything.

The night of the interviews, they all gather around the Hawthorne's television. Katniss thinks it takes even longer than usual for Caesar Flickerman to get to the District 12 tributes this year. After the beautiful and bored girl from District 1 and the vicious District 2 tributes, they start to blur together until District 11. A girl who couldn't be older than Prim has been reaped and Katniss feels her stomach churning as the girl politely answers questions and urges viewers not to count her out. The boy from District 11 barely says a word, but he looks menacing as ever, and Katniss finds herself hoping Thom never has to face him in a fight.

Katniss's heart skips a beat when Ansley walks on stage looking as beautiful as Katniss has ever seen her. The fabric of her dress has orange and red tones and it's covered with jewels. It hugs Ansley's body, giving the illusion of curves Katniss can't remember her ever having. She smiles and waves at the audience before sitting down across from Caesar.

He greets her warmly and asks her how she likes the Capitol.

"Oh it's beautiful," she gushes. "I've never seen such tall, sparkling buildings in my life. And there's no coal dust anywhere."

The audience laughs and Ansley giggles before continuing.

"I mean, I'm used to seeing coal dust all the time. And to breathing it in and coughing if I inhale too much. But not here," she looks enraptured before she takes another breath. "Oh and the food! It's delicious. We don't have anything like it in 12. Well, we don't have that much food at all. But anyway, I never go to bed hungry here, but I used to all the time at home. And we never got to eat meat-

"You mean at home with your family?" Caesar cuts her off and Katniss sees Gale smirk.

"Yes, my family, but really everyone-

"Why don't you tell us about your family?"

Ansley nods and starts talking about her two older sisters. She chokes up when she starts to speak about her mother and father.

"My dad's a miner, you know like most of us in 12," she says, voice getting hoarse. "And he-he's gone into the mines every day for _years_ to take care of us. He works so hard. They work six days a week, sunup to sunset, and it's hard work. And they get hacking coughs and lung diseases. And of course there's the mining accidents, we had one just a few months ago that killed twelve people-

"Oh dear," Caesar says. "Well, we don't want to upset you here tonight. So, why don't you tell us how you're feeling about the Games?"

Ansley nods, takes a steadying breath, and looks back out at the audience. She has a soft, tender look in her eyes that makes her seem too gentle and innocent to have seen so much tragedy.

"Well, I was nervous of course, but I feel better now," she says. "My District partner, Thom, he's been real nice. See, we were friends before and he said we're going to stay friends. We're going to be partners and he said he'll look after me as best he can."

She looks towards the direction where Thom must be standing and smiles.

"And my stylist has been wonderful too."

"Yes, you made quite an entrance at the opening ceremony," Caesar agrees.

"I know!" she giggles. "Cinna is the best! Oh, and I almost forgot to show you!"

She stands up and proceeds to twirl, revealing embers dancing around the skirts of her gown. The audience gasps and claps loudly, then chants at her to keep twirling. Eventually, Caesar stands and she clasps his arm to steady herself.

"Goodness, I'm dizzy," she smiles first at him and then at the audience.

"I can imagine," he says. A timer sounds and his face takes on a slightly sad expression. "I'm afraid we're out of time, Ms. Halliman. We do still need to hear from your district partner."

"Oh you'll love Thom," she gushes. "He's so kind and brave, just wonderful."

"I'm sure," Caesar smiles.

Ansley lets go of his arm and waves to the audience before walking off the stage.

As she exits, Katniss sees both Hazelle and Gale narrowing their eyes at the screen. But it's Rory who says what Katniss is thinking.

"They made her seem dumb, just babbling on about things."

"Well, she isn't the sharpest tool in the shed," Gale says, still frowning at the screen.

Hazelle clears her throat and gives him a pointed look.

"She isn't," Gale raises his hands in defense. "But they were playing it up."

"Why?" Rory asks.

"To keep people from realizing what she's really doing."

It's Hazelle who answers. She's still looking at the screen and biting her lips.

"What do you mean?" Rory continues. "What is she really doing?"

But Hazelle hushes him instead of answering as Thom walks onto the stage. He reminds Katniss a little bit of Gale in the way he walks, with his shoulders thrown back and his head held high.

After introducing him, Caesar gets straight to the point.

"Let's start with the question on everyone's mind, why did you volunteer? Do you know the boy who was reaped?"

"I do," Thom's voice is calm and steady. "He's a good friend of mine. He's also the main provider for a family of five. His dad died in a mining accident and Gale's been acting like a father since he was fourteen. Not only that, his friend Katniss and her family are living with the Hawthornes too. Her dad died in the same mining accident. So all said and done, Gale helps feed eight people. He has a family who needs him, a family that's been very good to me, and I didn't want them to suffer."

"And what about your family?"

"Well, my dad and my brother died a couple months ago in a mining accident," Thom says. "That accident killed about a dozen people. Hovercrafts got there eventually, but it took about a day. While we were waiting, people died slowly from internal bleeding and that sort of thing. My mother died of a lung infection and fever. There was medicine for it, but we couldn't afford it. Not with my dad and brother dead and me too young to work. Lots of people couldn't afford the medicine, I think at least another dozen people were killed."

When he finishes speaking there's a beat of silence. Katniss wishes she could see the audience, see what people in the Capitol thought of Thom's words. Caesar's face is composed into a polite expression of sympathy.

"I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we're very sorry for your loss," Caesar says.

"It's okay," Thom gives a grim smile. "There's a lot of people in 12 who've experienced worse."

"It's still a very tragic story," Caesar says. "But, it tells us all more about you. And now that we know you better, why don't we turn our attention to the Games. I take it you know your district partner, Ms. Halliman?"

"Yeah, we're in the same year at school," Thom says. "Ansley is a real sweet girl. I'm not going to hurt her, we're going to be a team. I want to bring her back safe and sound to her family. Now that I know what it's like to lose family, I don't want anyone else to have to go through it. So, I'm getting her home."

"A truly noble goal."

"Thank you," Thom says. "And I'm going to achieve it. We have an advantage being from 12."

"Oh?"

"We haven't always capitalized on it, but we do. Life is hard in 12, but it makes us tough. We've all seen death. I've watched my own mother die in front of me, so I'm not going to start flinching at death now. I'm also not going to get weak from lack of food. We've all been starving most of our lives in 12."

Thom looks at the camera.

"We've suffered enough not to be afraid of it anymore. We haven't always been the fiercest competitors, but we will be this year. We're done being defeated. And we're not going to be forgotten anymore."

Katniss feels herself shiver. She can hear the Capitol audience cheering, but she knows Thom wasn't talking to them. He was talking to her, to Gale, to Hazelle and to everyone else in District 12, and maybe even to other districts.

The buzzer sounds and Thom smiles and waves to the crowd. When the tributes are lined up for a final bow, he takes Ansley's hand and they bow together. Katniss watches him, admiring his composure. He's not acting like someone who has just done something completely unprecedented in the Hunger Games.

"Well, it's time for bed then," Hazelle's voice is clipped and her hand trembles when she switches off the television. She scoops up Posy and holds her tightly to her chest and nudges Vick.

Gale and Rory don't move, they're still transfixed in front of the television.

"What did you think of Thom?" Rory asks.

"He was incredible," Gale says. "He-

"Rory, bed time," Hazelle's tone brooks no argument. She shoots Gale a glare and he nudges Rory.

"If you guys can stay up, then there's no reason I can't, too," Rory glares between Gale and Katniss.

"They're not staying up," Hazelle snaps.

Gale raises his eyebrows, but he seems to think better of arguing.

"'Night Catnip," he says. The way he lifts his eyebrows tells her he's not really planning to go to sleep. Katniss gives Prim a quick, goodnight kiss and waves as everyone walks back to the bedrooms. Then, she fusses with her blankets and waits for everyone to fall asleep and Gale to return to the living room.

Some nights he simply pads into the kitchen and motions her to follow back to his bedroom. But Katniss knows this will be one of the nights where he sits beside her on the couch and they talk until they're eyes get heavy and their whispers are punctuated by yawns.

It takes Gale longer than usual to come out, but when he does he drops onto the couch just like she expected.

"He's starting a rebellion," Gale says, a strange mixture of awe, envy and worry in his voice.

"A rebellion? You really think he's going that far?"

"Of course he is! Why else would he talk like that?"

"So people know how bad it is here."

"Exactly, and then they'll want to do something about it."

Katniss frowns. Everyone in 12 knows how bad things are and no one's done much yet. She's about to tell Gale so, but he starts speaking again.

"He's making sure the other districts know they're not alone. That we're all suffering together. And he's making sure the people in the Capitol can't just keep pretending things are okay for us."

"Fine, but what is anyone going to do about it?"

"I don't know," Gale frowns at the television. "But maybe it'll be the beginning, the day people in Panem start realizing that things are awful, but they can change. Maybe some day they'll be writing books about how it all started tonight."

Katniss isn't so sure about that. The more she listens to Gale and thinks about how Thom's words could be perceived, the more she thinks it's not going to end well. But she doesn't want to think about that and she certainly doesn't want to say it to Gale, not when he's still so weighed down by guilt.

But Gale knows her too well to be fooled.

"What?"

"I don't know," she looks down and pulls at the blankets on the couch.

"Yeah you do, you just don't want to say it."

Katniss shoots him a glare.

"Then maybe you should let it drop."

"Fine."

Gale looks stung and Katniss sighs.

"Gale, I just…I'm worried it will end badly. For Thom. Maybe for other people."

He sighs and leans back into the couch.

"I know."

They fall silent and Katniss sneaks a glance at him. Gale has sat back against the couch and is examining his hands. They sit in silence for a moment before he straightens up again.

"I know it could be bad, but what if it isn't? What if people stop being complacent, if-if the miners go on strike, the farmers in 11 go on strike, and suddenly production just stops-

"They won't let that happen, Gale."

"You can't force someone to work. If you beat them, kill them, they can't work then can they?"

"But you can let their families starve."

"But what if we're prepared? What if we stockpile food and supplies? It doesn't have to be forever, just long enough for the Capitol to feel the pinch."

Katniss shakes her head.

"The Peacekeepers would destroy the supplies. They'd burn half the Seam down to force people back to work."

"Would they?" Gale raises his eyebrows and tilts his head to the side. "Do you see Darius burning down our house? And even, Cray? He's more interested in sex than enforcing the Capitol's rules. And even if they tried, they're outnumbered-

"They have guns."

"Right, so we'd need weapons. We'd need to be able to guard supplies."

"Gale-

"We can make bows and-

"And what? Teach the whole district to shoot!" Katniss almost raises her voice in exasperation. "It's crazy, Gale!"

"So what would you have us do?"

"I'd have us stay alive!" she hisses.

"For how long? Until Posy gets reaped? Until another infection kills us? Until I get crushed in the next mining accident?"

Katniss feels like she's been slapped.

"Shut up!" she hisses. "Just shut up! Don't say that! Don't-

Katniss feels her throat close and her eyes sting. She tries to say something, but when she opens her mouth all that comes out is a strangled sort of gasp. She looks down at the floor and swallows.

"Catnip."

She feels Gale's hand brush her arm.

"It's okay. I'm sorry," he rubs her shoulder tentatively. She shakes him off and stands up.

"You shouldn't talk like that. You shouldn't just-just say that! It's awful, Gale!"

"I know, you're right."

"I don't want to hear it! I don't want-

She has to swallow another sob.

"Catnip," Gale stands up and pulls her into his arms. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

She squeezes her eyes shut and wills the tears back down. Gale is fine. He's here, completely enveloping her in his warmth. He keeps whispering apologies into her hair and rubbing her back in that way that always seems to ease the worry right out of her. She gives one more shuddering sigh and Gale squeezes her tighter.

Once she's recovered her composure, she tries to tell him she's no longer angry with him. But he just chuckles at the sound of her muffled voice and she feels his shoulders shake against her.

"We should sleep," he says with a smile. He drops his arms and lets her step out of his grasp. Katniss nods her agreement and turns towards the bedroom. She's about to start walking when she feels Gale take her hand in his own, squeezing gently as he leads her out of the main room.

When they climb into his bed this time, he takes the arm he usually rests across her and uses it to pull her closer. Katniss can't bring herself to mind and presses against him, feeling a rush of warmth at the way she seems to fit so perfectly there. Her knees are over his, her hips just a bit below his, and her head fitting nicely against his chest. She sighs contentedly and murmurs a good night, relishing the feel of his lips against her hair when he whispers his reply.

* * *

Everyone is on edge the day the Games begin. The fact that Thom may die today, combined with the knowledge that Gale starts work tomorrow, weighs too heavily to be ignored. For once, the Hawthorne house is quiet as everyone forces down breakfast and gets dressed for the mandatory viewing.

Finally, it's time and they file out with the rest of District 12 to watch the Games on large screens the peacekeepers have set up in the town square. Katniss can feel the tension coiling in her stomach, making her wish she'd had even less for breakfast than she did. Just as it did on the reaping day, the minutes seem to drag by while the whole district stands together, waiting for the Capitol to decide it's time to begin.

But the dread is largely for nothing, at least for the time being. Ansley and Thom grab the supplies nearest them, and then run together into the woods before anyone has a chance to attack them. The announcers are clearly disappointed with the lack of action, but Katniss is relieved. It was smart to get away, even Thom wouldn't have stood a chance against the boy from District 2.

Since the District 12 tributes are so unexciting, they are largely ignored. The broadcast focuses on the killing, which is as gruesome as ever. Katniss goes to cover Prim's eyes, only to find that her little sister has buried her face in Rory Hawthorne's shoulder, though he's looking rather pale himself. Hazelle is holding Posy, keeping her face away from the screen, and Gale has ignored Vick's protests to cover his eyes. Part of Katniss feels she ought to watch, to see the strengths and weaknesses of Thom's opponents. Though she knows she could probably stomach it, she has no desire to watch the bloodbath. Instead, she stares at her shoes, occasionally looking up to make sure the children still have their eyes shielded.

Eventually, the fighting at the cornucopia ends and the broadcast shows Ansley and Thom jogging through the woods. They stop briefly and share a few sips of water from a backpack Ansley grabbed, then they commence jogging again. It's nearly two hours later by the time the broadcast returns to them. Katniss is more than grateful for an end to watching the careers build shelter and listening to the announcers discuss the skills they had displayed when killing other tributes.

Thom and Ansley have managed to reach a spring and are discussing how best to boil and store water.

"You think it's safe to start a fire?" Ansley asks as she finishes filling the water bottle.

"It's always a risk, but the Careers usually hunt at night, so I'd say we're best off doing it now."

They don't have matches and Thom is struggling to start a fire using wood, rocks, and dry grass. Gale is growing irritable watching, muttering about how Thom's doing it all wrong. Katniss can't say she blames Gale. It would be much more efficient if he would use the knife to strike at the rocks.

"He might not be using the right rocks," Katniss says when Gale mutters a mild curse. She knows only certain rocks seem to work for lighting a fire.

"Could be," Gale lets out a breath. "If they don't have some type of quartz, then they're really in trouble."

Thom groans and drops the rocks he was rubbing together. Ansley comes over and cocks her head to the side.

"Why don't you try the knife? I've seen people get sparks sharpening knives."

"Finally," Gale mutters.

Thom gives a stiff nod and digs in one of their packs to pull out their only weapon. It's a six-inch blade that Katniss would love to have for hunting, but she can't see how it will be of much use against the swords and battleaxes other tributes have.

Thom strikes the knife against the rock a few times before it sparks, then he carefully holds the dry birch against the rock. It takes even more time for the sparks to catch on the birch, but eventually it catches.

"At least he knows to blow," Gale grumbles as Thom blows lightly on the birch and dried grass.

Eventually they get a fire going and manage to boil the water. They immediately drink all of it, boil more, and refill the water bottle. Then, they take off jogging again. It's another hour before the broadcast shows them again, and this time they're stopped in front of a bush. Ansley reaches out for the berries, but Thom jerks her hand back roughly.

"Ow!" she snaps. "What-

"Nightlock," Thom says. "If you eat it, you'll die in minutes."

Ansley's eyes go wide.

"How'd you know that?"

"Gale showed me."

"Out in the-

"Yeah, out," Thom cuts her off and stares at her pointedly. Comprehension dawns on Ansley's face and she nods. They remain silent for a moment, looking at the bush in front of them.

"Know any other plants?" she asks.

"Sadly, I don't," Thom grimaces. "I only know that one because Gale knocked them out of my hand when they were halfway to my mouth."

Katniss looks over at Gale and sees him smiling and shaking his head at the memory. She's about to ask him when on earth Thom was ever in the woods, but he answers her question before she can voice it.

"We got bored one Saturday and he kept pestering me to sneak him out," Gale shrugs. "He wanted to kill an animal, but he was loud as hell."

Katniss smiles.

"If I had known this would happen…"Gale shakes his head and swallows. Katniss can see the guilt all over his face. She knows Gale thinks he would be better equipped to survive the woods, and it's probably true, but she shakes her head at him.

"No one could have known, and you don't just take people out there for fun. Especially not if they scare away the game."

Gale sighs heavily, but he nods.

Back on the screen Ansley is picking up the sleeping bag she's been carrying, but Thom is still staring at the bush. Without saying a word to his partner, he snatches a handful of berries and tucks them into the pack. Then, he smiles over at Ansley and says,

"Should we head out?"

She nods and they continue their jog away from the cornucopia. The broadcast cuts away to the announcers who immediately begin speculating on why Thom took the Nightlock. When one announcer suggests he's planning to poison Ansley, Katniss, Gale, and many others around them snort in disgust.

"I don't know what he's doing with it, but I doubt that's it," Katniss grumbles. "If he wanted to kill her, he could have just let her eat it when she tried."

Gale nods, though he remains frowning in thought at the screen. Finally, he says,

"I wonder if he's saving them as a last resort, as a quick death."

Katniss shivers, but she thinks it's smart nonetheless. She remembers plenty of tributes who bled out slowly from injuries or suffered through a prolonged illness. She'd certainly prefer the speed of Nightlock.

Though the Games are broadcasted 24 hours each day, the mandatory viewing ends in the late afternoon. Hazelle briskly gathers everyone together and leads them home. They are all relieved to see Thom and Ansley safe for the time being, but the underlying tension remains.

Throughout the evening, Katniss feels like she's the only one who can't seem to handle the fact that Gale's starting work. Hazelle is all business, insisting he try on all the equipment and adjusting it where necessary. Rory is teasing him about how he'll never be free of coal dust again, and Posy and Vick are peppering him with questions about what he'll do on his first day. No one is begging him not to go, telling him to be careful, or any of the other things Katniss feels the urge to do. So she forces herself stay busy by taking on extra chores, concentrating on tasks like scrubbing the bathroom rather than the activity around Gale. In fact, she manages to avoid being in the same room as him, except during dinner.

When the meal is over, Gale flicks the television on and Hazelle scowls from the kitchen.

"We just spent hours watching that trash," she snaps.

"I'm just going to watch long enough to see how Thom is."

Fortunately, they don't have to wait long. The camera goes to Thom and Ansley, who have crawled underneath a large pine tree to sleep for the night. Their day of jogging seems to have paid off, because they seem quite far from the Careers. Ansley lays out the sleeping bag she's been carrying while Thom stands in front of the tree telling her how best to position it to ensure they won't be seen.

When it's appropriately positioned, Ansley crawls inside and Thom lies down a few feet away, pushing the backpack behind his head for a pillow.

"Thom, you're going to freeze," Ansley says.

"I'll be fine," he assures her.

"C'mon, there's room for both of us in here."

"I don't know if that's…appropriate."

Gale snorts and Ansley seems to share his sentiments.

"Thom, it's the Hunger Games," she says. "We need to concentrate on staying alive, and it's way too cold for sitting still all night."

Thom frowns and digs his heel into the dirt.

"Look, it's not like that. I know you're not going to try anything, it's to keep us both warm."

"Okay," he says finally. "Thanks."

Thom moves to crawl into the sleeping bag and it's clearly a tight fit. He mumbles apologies as they move, trying to find a comfortable position.

"Can I put my arm-

"Yeah, just-there."

Thom ends up with one arm outstretched and the other around Ansley, who is resting her head on the outstretched arm. They mumble goodnights and the screen cuts to the Capitol announcers, who immediately begin cooing over the "adorable" and "romantic" sleeping arrangement. It occurs to Katniss that the arrangement is awfully similar to the one she's been sharing with Gale recently. She briefly wonders if that makes it romantic, and her stomach swoops at the thought. But then she reminds herself that these are Capitol announcers, their comments are pointless at best, and often just plain stupid.

Gale chuckles as he switches off the television. He's halfway through a comment about Thom getting lucky when Hazelle shushes him.

"Why is Thom lucky?" Vick asks. Rory and Katniss hide their snickers.

"Care to answer that, Gale?" Hazelle raises her eyebrows at him. "Why don't you explain exactly why Thom is lucky?"

"Because Ansley is being nice and sharing with him," Gale grins. "Nothing better than when a girl shares."

Rory laughs and Katniss forces herself to keep a straight face.

"Honestly," Hazelle rolls her eyes. "It's bed time. Now. Before your brother decides to dispense any other wisdom."

When everyone else is asleep, Katniss hears the soft click of Gale's door and she leaves the couch to make her way towards his room. Usually she waits for him to get her, but she decides that's a rather pointless step. She doesn't want to squander the time she could be close to him on formalities, not when he's just hours away from descending into the darkness of the mines.

He smiles when she appears in front of his door and it makes her chest constrict. She wonders if his smile will still have the same impishness after days spent underground. Her concern must have shown on her face, because Gale's brows knit together in a silent question. She shrugs and shakes her head. She doesn't want to think about it. Not when there's so little she can do.

Gale reaches out and takes her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before leading her back towards his bed. They climb in together and she burrows herself against him, wanting to stay as close as possible. But despite the warmth of his body and the weight of his arm draped over her, Katniss finds herself unable to sleep. She can't seem to stop wiggling her feet and her mind bounces from one thought to another. Though she doesn't think exclusively of Gale in the mines, her thoughts do seem to drift there eventually.

She isn't sure how much time passes, perhaps an hour, before she realizes that Gale's chest isn't rising and falling with deep breaths. He isn't sleeping either.

"Gale," she keeps her voice so quiet the rustling of sheets would drown it out.

"Mm?"

"Have you been able to sleep?"

"No. You?"

He whispers close to her ear and Katniss feels the tickle of his breath.

"No."

She wriggles around to try and face him. She doesn't know what to say, how to explain the way her mind is racing. Gale props his head up on his elbow.

"I don't want to go."

"I don't want you to either."

"I can tell," she hears him give a soft laugh. "You've been avoiding me all night. You practically ran out of the room when I put the helmet on."

"I didn't run," she scowls.

"Close to it."

She scoffs quietly.

"Well I…I don't like it."

"Me neither."

"At least you'll make money. You'll be able to start saving more, get warm things for winter. Your family will have-

"Our families. It's ours."

"Gale, you're the one-

"And you're hunting for me six days a week."

"But-

"We live in the same house. We pool resources because they go farther this way," he sighs quietly. "I thought we were done having this argument."

"Fine," she grumbles. "It's ours. So, with me hunting we can probably save a lot of your money. Get some warmer clothes, the occasional treat for the kids."

"Yeah, it'll be good," he sighs again. "I just…I can't believe I'm going to spend the rest of my life like this. Stuck down there, hardly seeing the sun, especially in the winter. It's…forever. The rest of my damn life."

Katniss can hear the hopelessness in his voice and it sparks something that even manages to overpower her anxiety.

"Gale, it's not-

"Shhhh."

"It's not like that," she lowers her voice. "It's not going to be your whole life. You're going to come home to us every day still. And we'll spend Sundays in the woods or at the Hob. The mines won't be your whole life, Gale. We won't let them be."

"Yeah?" his voice wavers, so Katniss keeps hers steady.

"I promise."

She sees him smile in the darkness, then suddenly he pulls her tightly against him so her face is buried in his chest. Her nose is squished and she can barely move her chest to breathe, but Katniss can't bring herself to mind. And when she opens her mouth to say something, all that comes out is a content sound halfway between a sigh and a purr.

She feels Gale smile against her hair and he shifts, lying on his back and pulling her against his chest. She adjusts to the position, splaying a hand across his torso and draping one of her legs on top of his. Gale strokes her hair absently and she feels his heart beat steadily beneath her. Eventually his fingers still and his breathing becomes deeper. Satisfied, Katniss lets herself join him in sleeping.


End file.
